The Legend of Spyro: Mar's Sanction
by Alexai Extail
Summary: During Mar's training as the Angel of Death, he falls victim to amnesia and ends up in a strange world. Meanwhile, Spyro and Cynder are closer than ever and are teaching the new upcoming Guardians and taking them on missions. How will this all collide?
1. Prologue

Prologue:

**Mar Grimm, the Angel of Death while on a training mission, lost his memory after being hit by a stray energy blast. He fell through a random time sphincter and ended up in a strange land filled with dragons and bipedal cheetahs. Unable to speak or do much except for annoy and retract his wings, he ventured through the land, searching for something to jog his memory.**


	2. Chapter 1: Islands in the sky

Chapter 1: Islands in the sky

**Spyro**

As I released all my energy to try and save the world, I heard Cynder's last three words: "I love you." Those words made me feel warm inside and at the same time kind of shy. But I tried to focus on the task at hand. As I pieced the world back together, my thoughts kept coming back to Cynder. She was alive, I could tell, but her last words were said and done. She couldn't take it back. I felt the last of my strength give way and I cursed myself for getting distracted. I wasn't able to mend the entire planet, but I did give it an atmosphere. The worst case scenario was a few floating land masses, nothing too serious. The last thing I saw before slipping into unconsciousness was Cynder's face seeming concerned. My eyes felt heavy and I let sleep take me.

_I felt light as a feather as I flew with Cynder in the sky. I saw the Chronicler and Ignitus talking. Then with a flash of white light, Ignitus' colour changed to that of the Chronicler's, but when I looked, he was gone; all there was, was Ignitus, blue and looking older than ever before. But then I thought, with age comes wisdom. I smiled as Ignitus looked into my book and asked:_

"_Well young dragon, where are you now?" I wanted to reply to him, but I knew he would see soon enough._

I felt warmth next to me and I opened my eyes. I saw sky and another land which I guessed people would call the 'mainland' now. I figured we were on one of the floating islands. When I looked down, I saw the edge of the island we were floating on. Out of fear, I go up quickly and reared back into a tree, one of its fruits falling on my head as I knocked it. The warmth I felt next to me was Cynder, still lying there. She looked up and over to me.

"Spyro, you're up. How did you sleep?" she asked. I was panting, trying to calm myself down. I cleared my throat and replied.

"Fine, what about you… Cynder?" I asked, assuming she already knew about the edge. She got up and stretched, her tail lifting as well. I heard cracking sounds as her bones popped into place. She let out a squeal and sighed.

"Fine, are you alright?" she asked. I nodded, motioning to the edge of the island. She looked down and saw it.

"The view's beautiful from up here isn't it?" she asked. I nodded, walking up next to her. I looked around and saw all the other islands. I could also see the clouds just below us. The mainland as it was now deemed was mostly what the world used to look like but with craters that were now the floating islands. Cynder looked at me and smiled shyly.

"This is the highest point in the world now. And I got to share it with you. Thank you Spyro." she said. I nodded, feeling rather speechless. Then she turned to head into the trees behind us.

"Where are you going?" I asked her. She didn't reply, she just continued as if I hadn't spoken. I went to follow her, but she began running. I didn't understand what was going on.

"Cynder, what's wrong?" I asked. She stopped this time. When she turned around, I could see tears in her eyes.

"I admitted how I felt about you Spyro. But you deserve someone better. Someone who doesn't have a past like mine." she said. I didn't move. I knew exactly what to say.

"Your past is simply magnificent, Cynder." I said. She stopped crying for a second and looked at me.

"What do you mean?" she asked. I smiled at her and walked closer to her.

"You are Cynder, my best friend, my ally. You're a good dragon, Cynder, the beauty of the skies." I said. She let out a bark of laughter, tears still falling from her eyes.

"Don't flatter me Spyro. You know full well about my past. You know I was Malefor's General, the _terror_ of the skies." she argued.

"You say I deserve to be with someone better, but I don't know anyone better than you Cynder. For me, your past starts when we became friends. Anything before that is irrelevant." I said, walking up to her so we were a snout apart. She had backed into a tree, as the fruit came down, I blew on the tree's trunk and a slab of it came out and shaped itself into a bowl. The fruit landed in there just above Cynder's head.

"Spyro…" she argued, but I stopped her.

"You admitted it and you can't take it back. So all there is left to do is for me to admit that I love you too, Cynder." I said bluntly. Cynder froze, staring at me. I could see in her eyes, the joy that she could never express enough. I leaned in and licked the side of her face. She gasped, shivering. I chuckled.

"Would you have settled for a hug?" I asked. Cynder didn't reply. She was staring into space. To stop this, I pressed my nose against hers. Her eyes moved to meet mine.

"Didn't you hear me? I love you too Cynder." I repeated. I noticed as Cynder exhaled that she was holding her breath. She let it all out in a gust of wind. My chops flapped in the breeze. When she had expended all her wind, I tried to keep my face in the last expression. It turned into a rather ugly smiley face. But it was enough to make her laugh.

"Nice to see that you're unfrozen." I said, hugging her. She went limp, forcing me to carry all her weight.

"Jeez Cynder, heavy much? What have you been eating behind my back?" I teased. Cynder smacker the flat end of her tail against my foreleg.

"I'm still not convinced I deserve you Spyro." she said. I leaned back and sighed at her. I looked back at the edge of the island.

"Okay, if you don't think you deserve me, then prove it by failing to catch me." As I said this, I ran to the edge and jumped backwards, waving at her with a paw. I fell through the clouds and spread my wings, letting the wind pick them up. I flew around, hearing her behind me. I flew slowly, looping around as she followed. We began to play around in the air. She followed my movements. As I looped around, I waited for her to do the same. She flew past me and I knew it was my turn to follow her.

"Can't catch me Spyro." she said. I chuckled.

"I thought you were supposed to catch me; you deserve me after all." I replied. She chuckled.

"I'm going to test you Spyro. If you truly love me like I do you, then you'll try to the best of your abilities to catch me." she said. I sighed, flapping my wings as hard as I could. She spun, evading my swoop. I stopped and tried to catch her as she flew towards me, but she ducked under me. I tried to catch her over and over again, trying numerous manoeuvres. Each time, she would outmanoeuvre me. Then I thought of something. I crept closer to her, but stayed back just enough for her to not suspect anything. I spat a blue shard of ice into the air, letting it fly over her. It was the same colour as the sky itself so Cynder couldn't see it. When it became visible, it was right in front of her. She stopped, surprised by its presence. I almost crashed into her, but turned just in the nick of time to catch her.

I flew in the air, carrying her in the grip of my paws.

"So have I proven myself?" I asked her. She chuckled and looked up.

"You proved yourself by trying Spyro, that's all I could have asked for. But I'm still not convinced I deserve you." she said.

"Cynder, you're beginning to become a broken record. If I believed you didn't deserve me, I wouldn't have tried." I said, releasing her so she could fly on her own. She looked at me, love in her eyes.

"I love you." she said. I turned to her, seeing that same love in her eyes and reflected it. I smiled and replied:

"I love you too."


	3. Chapter 2: Spark of Brotherhood

Chapter 2: Spark of brotherhood

**Spyro**

We flew around, searching for anyone we knew. We saw plenty of new living souls, obviously ones that had escaped underground during Malefor's reign. There were even a few new dragons around. I didn't feel like seeing any of them at the time. I just managed to earn Cynder's trust with our new relationship; I didn't want to ruin it by talking to other dragons.

We flew past Avalaar. There, we saw Hunter and Prowlus. With them was Sparx. When we landed, there were surprised faces all over the village. Hunter emerged from the crowd, his face filled with happiness.

"Spyro, Cynder. You have returned. I am…so relieved…" I could see Hunter's eyes begin to water.

"Is he about to cry?" asked Cynder. I looked at her, just as surprised as she was. We both walked up to Hunter and let him grip us in a hug. We placed our wings around him and smiled at each other behind his back.

"It is not a bad thing to cry for those you miss. It would certainly not hurt my pride, but strengthen it. Am I right Chief Prowlus?" he asked. Prowlus stepped forward.

"Yes, Hunter. Spyro, Cynder, welcome back. I know the last time you stayed here was under worse circumstances, but please feel free to stay here as long as you wish." he replied. Cynder walked up to him and smiled.

"Thanks Chief. I think we could use a night under a roof around other people." she said. I chuckled as I joined her.

"What so I'm not enough?" I asked. Before she could answer, I was attacked by a small, talking, crying, and annoying lantern.

"Sparx, will you get off me?" I asked. But Sparx was too busy hugging and kissing me to pay attention.

"SPYRO!" he cried. I smiled and winked at Cynder.

"Sparx, how do you know you haven't got Cynder?" I asked him. He instantly let go, staring at me in horror. I made him believe I was Cynder for a minute. He sighed and more calmly went to hug me.

"Spyro my man, where have you been, it's been months?" he said. I looked at Cynder who was just as surprised as I was.

"How many months, Sparx?" asked Cynder. Sparx let go of me and went to hug her too. Both of us were surprised by this action.

"I'm glad to see you too Cynder. And to answer your question, It's been about three months since you saved us." he replied. Cynder smiled and nuzzled him.

"Three months? It feels like just one night. I thought we defeated him yesterday." I said. Cynder shrugged.

"What does it matter? He's gone forever, let's enjoy the rest of our lives in peace." she said. I smiled at her and rubbed the side of her neck with my head.

"Oh, so what's been going on with you two?" asked Sparx, creeping up between us. He didn't sound upset; more interested than anything.

"Turns out Sparx, that Cynder and I are in love." I replied casually. Cynder smiled at Sparx gleefully.

"You've got to be joking. You can't joke, that's what I'm for. What has happened to my fat purple brother? Cynder you didn't take care of him did you?" he asked, turning to her. Cynder gave him an annoyed look.

"Not five minutes and I'm already sick of you, you little lantern." she said. Sparx went to hit her but ended up hurting himself in the process. Cynder's scales were too hard for his stick like arms.

"Sparx, stop it. I'm not joking when I say I love Cynder. I had to prove it to her and all." I said, getting between them.

"But you can't do this to me man. I'm the pretty one of us." he complained. I sighed and shook my head.

"We were going to visit the dragonfly village after we stopped by there. If you're interested, we can find you a nice dragonfly girl while we visit." said Cynder. Sparx looked at her.

"That's not the point really. If you and Spyro were to get together, then who would I hang around with? I feel as if this means you're taking Spyro from me. I don't want to lose him, not that you could lose something so big." he replied, pointing to my rump. Cynder laughed.

"You lost the both of us for a few months didn't you?" I retorted. Sparx smiled. He raised his arms and chuckled.

"Well sort of. You see seeing as how your legendary purple ego powers saved the planet, I figured you were the entire planet. I had so many fat jokes for you too." he said.

"Oh come on Sparx. As far as dragons go, I think I'm rather thin." I defended. Sparx waved his hand making a 'Psh!' sound.

"Yeah well I'm just glad you're back purple boy." he said, giving me a hug. I exhaled, remembering the times the other dragonflies would pick on me because of my size. Sparx would make light of the fat jokes when I cried and hug me this exact same way.

"You know Sparx, there would have been a time when you wouldn't have dared hit me. I think you've gotten braver since we last met." said Cynder. Sparx smiled at her.

"Cynder, could you promise me this?" he asked. Cynder nodded and waited for his request.

"Would you let me and Spyro hang out every once in a while? I mean I know he's not a dragonfly, but it would get boring without the big guy and he is family." he asked. Cynder smiled and nodded.

"I'm not taking him from you Sparx. Spyro and I are simply in love, we don't know what we're going to do, but I promise you I won't hog him." she replied, smiling. Sparx smiled back and went to hug her.

"So now Cynder, the ex-terror of the skies becomes my sister? This'll be a legend for sure. The legend of Spyro and Cynder. Has a nice ring to it don't you think?" he asked.

Cynder chuckled.

"I never said this to you Sparx, but you can be funny when you're trying to compliment people." she said. I began to laugh and the two of them looked at me.

"I never thought I'd see the day when you two would agree with each other and be all chummy like this." I chortled. Hunter and Prowlus joined in, followed by the rest of the village. Laughter sounded all across Avalaar. This was the beginning of the era of peace.


	4. Chapter 3: Memory Lane

Chapter 3: Memory lane

**Cynder**

The next morning, I woke up with Spyro's right wing over me, keeping me warm. I smiled at him, seeing he was still asleep. He was cute when he slept, and I thought how lucky I was to have been defeated by him when I was under Malefor's control. I got up and stretched, his wing dropping to the ground with a smack. I leaned in and nudged his face. He moaned in his sleep, seemingly happy in his mind. I wondered if he was thinking about me, dreaming about me.

I stepped outside our tent and looked at the already awake Cheetahs. Almost a quarter of the village was up, washing and starting fires to cook breakfast. I looked over the fence and saw more villagers fishing by the riverbanks. This was a peaceful place, one that I'd have loved to live in during my childhood. I'd forgotten how old I was over the years but I imagined I was the same age as Spyro. _I should ask Sparx how old he is._ I thought, cracking my joints. I dug my talons into the ground, getting a feel for the soft cool ground. The grass has that icy colour to it depending on the angle you saw it at. It was as if the grass would change whenever you got near it. I had the urge to look behind me to see if flowers had grown where my paws had tread, but that would have been silly of me to believe in such a thing.

I took to the air and flew over to the waterfall to bathe. Birds chirped their good mornings to their neighbours as they woke from their slumbers. I landed by the cave's entrance, remembering when we rescued Meadow from Malefor's minions. Slowly, I tread one paw into the cold water, bringing it back quickly. Then again. I repeated the process, over and over again, each time putting more on my paw in. I finally managed to brave my lower body into the water. I regretted the action instantly. The river was deeper than I thought and I was now submerged under the river's surface. I brought my head up instantly, gasping for air. I waded to the edge and hopped out as quickly as possible. I stood there shivering like a wet animal, my tail between my legs.

"Too cold for you, Cynder?" asked a familiar voice. I turned to see Spyro walking towards me, smiling. I imagined how silly I must have looked to him. I nodded my head, shakily. He chuckled.

"I'll heat it up for you. Get back in." he said. As I went in, he began to blow fire at the water before me. It warmed up instantly. I shivered, my face feeling cold. He stopped for a breath, and then thought for a second. The water became cold again and I was forced to jump out.

"Spyro!" I exclaimed. He chuckled.

"Sorry Cynder. I just had a thought. I've been meaning to try this, but I never really had a good enough reason." when he finished, he inhaled all the air he could get in, and blew out a large ball of fire. It was purple in colour. It stayed there, burning continuously. As if it was a miniature sun. He flew up and pushed against the ball, sending it into the water. It continued to burn, causing the river to steam.

"Try it now." he said, landing next to me. I got in, testing to see if it was too hot. It was hot, but just hot enough for me to enjoy it to the fullest.

"It's lovely Spyro. Thank you." I said, relaxing. He smiled. This was a smile I'd seen him use before, but it had just now become more noticeable to me. I saw all the features that were displayed in that smile, the shape of his chops as they lifted, showing white teeth.

"Want to join me?" I asked, swimming around. He shook his head.

"Sorry, but it's against my morals to swim with a girl when she's bathing." he replied. I smirked at him.

"Spyro, we're together now, an item if you will. I doubt swimming with me will be against your morals. Is it against a dragon's morals to swim with his girlfriend?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"I guess it isn't. Alright I'm coming." he replied, stepping into the water. He shivered like I had before as the warmth engulfed him.

"You're right, it is nice. Damn I'm good." he said, chuckling. I laughed, splashing water at him. He sputtered and began to laugh too. We swam around in circles, enjoying the warm water that was made by Spyro's purple fireball. I leaned in and licked the side of his face like he did with me yesterday morning. He smiled and rubbed his face against mine. This was bliss for me. I didn't feel I deserved it, but I didn't care anymore. I didn't care if I deserved it or not, I was happy with him, right here, right now. And Sparx wasn't going to complain. Knowing him, he would wait until the coldness left the village before getting up.

Spyro grabbed me and stopped paddling. I stopped too and we were sent down the riverbed.

"Spyro, the villagers have fishing lines that will hook us if we go too far." I pointed out. He smiled and began to paddle again.

"Perhaps we should wait until another time." he said. I continued to hug him, as we made our ways back to the waterfall and the fireball.

"We'll be leaving for the dragonfly village soon. Let's get cleaned up and head out." he said, letting me go. I nodded and continued to bathe with him next to me.

As dawn began to warm into mid morning, Spyro and I both dried each other off. I used a warm wind while he placed fireballs around me to turn the water droplets into tufts of steam. We smiled at each other, laughing and giggling like little children. I swore I never felt happier with him, with anyone. As we lay down on our back above the waterfall, we looked at the clouds and began a contest to see who could spot the most animal shapes within the clouds. I won with a count of twenty to nineteen. He smiled and congratulated me.

"Don't belittle my awesome victory." I said, chuckling. He returned that chuckle and looked at the large cloud hovering above us.

"That's a big rump." he said. I looked at the cloud, searching for the shape, but it wasn't there.

"I don't see it?" I said. Spyro laughed.

"Are you kidding? It's hard to miss." he said. He didn't point it out to me. He left me to find it on my own.

"I don't see anything in the cloud Spyro." I said disappointedly. That's when Spyro got up and began running.

"I was talking about you, Cynder!" he said. I gasped and got up to chase after him. I screamed at him as he laughed, jumping over the waterfall's edge.

"You're dead!"

I caught up to him easily and parked said rump on his head.

"Here's your fat rump, you little…" I said, Spyro laughed, his mouth visible under my tail.

"Ah, I'm being crushed by Cynder, the rump of the skies!" he cried sarcastically. I squealed at him, smacking him with my tail.

"You're so nasty!" I said, raising my voice. He continued to laugh. The Sparx entered the scene and began chuckling.

"At least he can see the truth now." he said. I smiled and shook my head at him. He was beginning to get too brave for his own good. I blew air at him lightly sending him a few metres away.

"Okay, okay. Don't get too upset there, sister. Once you've finished killing Spyro, shall we get going?" he said. I wondered if I was the first to notice Sparx's increase in maturity. I got off Spyro who wasn't moving.

"Spyro?" I asked, leaning in. He didn't answer. One eye was open and looking upward at the sky.

"Spyro!" I cried. My face was right up to his. He chose that moment to roar, scaring the life out of me. I jumped back and fell into the riverbed. Both Spyro and Sparx began laughing their heads off. I got out of the water which was still cold. I glared at the both of them. Spyro stopped laughing while Sparx, being himself, continued to chuckle in the background. I walked up to him and stared him in the eye.

"Cynder, I…" I roared at him, sending him backwards. He tumbled over, rocking back and forth for a few seconds. Sparx began laughing again while I did so too. Spyro looked at us, confused. When he saw I was just getting him back, he began to laugh too. He got up and walked closer to us. We all laughed in a circle and I couldn't help but remember the times we'd spent together. Though they were difficult times, they were fun with Spyro around. And Sparx, annoying as he was, put a little humour in the journey. When the laughter had died down, I spoke before I could stop myself.

"My boys." I said. Spyro and Sparx both looked at me with love in their eyes; Spyro in love with me, Sparx happy to have a new sister who was used to insults. They both came closer to me and gave me a hug.

"I love you both." I said, giving different reasons for each of them. Spyro and Sparx both replied in sync.

"We love you too, Cynder." they said. We all laughed at that as we detached from the embrace.

"I see you three have caught up already." said Hunter. Two other Cheetahs followed him, each one of them seeming serious yet at the same time, rather happy.

"Meh. Not much to catch up on really. It's only been three months. Little can happen in three months." said Sparx. Hunter smiled.

"Especially when in a time of peace; that is true. Spyro, Cynder, when you are ready, I will escort you to the gate." he said. Spyro and I both nodded, happy to get the chance to say goodbye to Hunter personally.

I dried myself up and declared I was ready. Spyro was good to go and Sparx was happy to move on. Hunter told his followers to leave us and led the way to the gate. We talked along the way, catching up on what was happening now we were at peace. Dragons had been hiding underground as we'd expected from the small population we saw the day before. There were thousands of them remaining and the numbers were growing every day. Spyro and I were both glad to hear it, me most of all. I felt horrible for killing so many of our kind. Hunter told us he'd found a love interest named Jade. She was named that after her green eyes, which shone like Jades in the moonlight. We congratulated Hunter for finding someone that he seemed to have a genuine interest in.

"And congratulations are in order for this new couple. You finally admitted your feelings to each other. Well done you two." he said. I leaned my head against Spyro's shoulder for a few seconds.

As we reached the gate, Hunter turned to us and placed his paws on our shoulders.

"Spyro, Cynder. Though Malefor's reign has ended, that does not mean that all is safe. The creatures of the forest have come out of their caves and are hungry. They will eat anything they see. Be careful going through the forests now. And don't be strangers to this land. Feel free to visit any time you wish." he said, stepping aside. We said our goodbyes and stepped through the gate, having it close behind us. We were on our way to Spyro and Sparx's home, the dragonfly village.


	5. Chapter 4: Home Town

Chapter 4: Home town

**Spyro**

Cynder and I walked in silence for a while, cautious of the creatures that could jump out at us any time. I didn't know about Cynder, but that fireball in the water drained me. I was still tired from the battle with Malefor and the reorganisation of the planet. Cynder seemed healthy, not nearly half as tired as I was, which was understandable. I had to use the absolute maximum of my power to save this world. Though I felt tired and drained even after a bath and three months' sleep, I felt this was worth it. People were alive and well, and Cynder was alive as well as me and Sparx. I just hoped Mum and Dad were alive. Well we'd find out soon enough.

As we walked we were greeted by the sounds of roaring from the frog weeds and slugs.

"Brings back memories huh Sparx?" I asked looking to him. He was hiding under Cynder's wing membrane.

"Yeah, you almost let a frog weed eat me, then we were attacked by those apes." he said. I chuckled.

"Served you right for calling me fat." I retorted. Cynder looked at me, an evil glare in her eyes. I knew she was thinking about when I said she had a big rump.

"It was a joke Cynder. You have a nice… you know." I said, turning away. Cynder smiled.

"A nice… what?" she teased. I gave her a teasing look.

"A nice voice." I replied. She growled at me, smiling. I chuckled and continued to walk. She didn't take her eyes off of me, waiting for me to finish.

"You have a nice, slim rump alright?" I asked. She nodded and snorted, satisfied. I shook my head and looked in front of me. There it was, home sweet home.

"It's… it's like a paradise that you've only ever seen once. You never know you're going to miss something until it's gone." he said, speeding towards the village. We stopped and watched him draw the attention of the others.

"Ladies and Gentlemen your favourite dragonfly has returned!" he shouted, buzzing through the mushrooms and toadstools. Scores of Dragonflies came out from under then wondering what the ruckus was about.

"Hey man, what's going on?" asked one of them. Sparx replied that he had returned from a great adventure.

"I didn't know you left." said the dragonfly. Sparx hung his arms, pretending to care. I entered the village, laughing.

"I told you they wouldn't remember you Sparx." I said. Sparx looked at me confused.

"When did you say that?" he asked. I smiled and replied.

"Last night when we were having the party, you don't remember? You must have been off your face." I replied.

"Spyro, my man how's it hanging?" asked the dragonfly. I smiled and nodded at him.

"Whatever Sparx tells you guys, know that it was all me alright?" I said. He nodded and laughed at Sparx.

"Big deal, so the fat one's back. Just means more crowded spaces for everyone." said Blaze. He was one of the dragonflies that really upset me.

"And he's gotten even bigger!" he added with a gleeful smile to it. I returned that smile and spat a small ball of dirt at him.

"That's the best you got?" he asked, turning his back to me and laughing. I showed him what I could do when I fired a boulder the size of my head at him. He was hit and he went down for the count. I laughed.

"I'd be careful with what you say to me Blaze. Not only will I not like it, but neither will Cynder." I said. I turned to my left to see that she wasn't there. I looked to Sparx who shrugged.

"Cynder!" I called. I heard a rustling in the bush behind me where I came from. I went to investigate it and saw Cynder hiding behind there.

"Sorry Spyro, but I feel as if I'm going to be judged when in front of all those faces." she said. I chuckled at her.

"Cynder, it doesn't matter what they think of you. It won't change how I feel about you." I said. She smiled sweetly and nodded.

"Okay, but I expect to be given a chance." she said. I nodded and pulled her out of the bushes. More dragonflies had come out now and were staring at her with wonder.

"Great, another fat one." said Blaze.

"Careful Blaze, this one spits acid." I warned. Cynder gave him an evil glare which stirred him slightly. This was going to be awesome.

"Spyro, Sparx!" called Mum from afar. The three of us turned in her direction, seeing Dad and some of our old friends following close behind her.

"Mommy!" Cried Sparx, flying to meet her half way. We watched him go, holding back the urge to laugh.

"I see he hasn't changed." said Blaze.

"He never will I fear." I replied. I went with Cynder to greet Mum and Dad and to our friends.

"Oh sweetie, you've grown so big.' she said waving me closer.

"Hi Mom." I said, giving her my head to hug. She squeezed as hard as she could. I was tempted to pretend I was choking but you couldn't choke a horn.

"So Spyro, who's your girlfriend?" asked Dad. Cynder smiled and waved her tail from side to side. Little children came out and began following it like a cat with a ball of string.

"Mom, Dad, this is Cynder. She's my girlfriend. I wanted her to meet the family." I said, drawing her attention. She stepped forward and bowed her head.

"Hi, I'm Cynder." she said nervously. Mom and Dad both smiled and made those sounds when their boy finds a girlfriend or when they're dressed up to go to something formal. Cynder blushed and looked down at the ground beneath her. I tutted at them and went to nudge Cynder. She rested her head on mine.

"Well I guess this means welcome to the family Cynder." said Dad. I thanked him with a wink, glad that he was fine with this. Mom nodded and continued to smile.

"Alright, Cynder's my new sister. This'll be a story to tell." said Sparx. We all chuckled at him and went on to introducing the rest of the village to Cynder.


	6. Chapter 5: Dead to the world

Chapter 5: Dead to the world

**Heinous**

I walked the long path through the forests on one of the newly formed floating islands. I didn't know how these things came to be, but they were and all that was left for me was to wander through each town on each island, expecting exile after one night there. I felt tired and sick, coughing fits came and went and other creatures would just stay away, thinking I was a disease. I wondered why I was chosen by our ancestors to ride the rough road of exile. What was so bad about me that I would be placed in such a dilemma? I couldn't figure out why I was targeted for something like this.

Then one of my coughing fits came up and I was forced to stop. I heaved and coughed, wishing I would just die already. I fell to the ground, out of breath to cough with, yet still I coughed, little by little. _This is it._ I thought. _This is the end of me. I couldn't even figure out my purpose here._ As I closed my eyes, I heard footsteps walking towards me. They stopped just short of my head. I opened my eyes and saw a young dark purple dragon, no older than myself staring down at me with white eyes. His dark scales shone black and his horns were greyish.

"Young one, why so glum?" he asked. His voice had a distorted sound to it and a black and purple aura surrounded him. I could actually see his aura. He spoke like a wise old dragon.

"A purple dragon?" I asked, my eyes giving way on me. I felt him stick his head under my chest and hoist me up onto his back. I felt the warmth of his body and the darkness within him. I felt that maybe this was my purpose, to be like him. I knew straight away that he was evil, but he was helping me, saving me. I would owe him my life and for the first time ever, I felt happy.


	7. Chapter 6: Wanderer

Chapter 6: Wanderer

**Mar (three years later)**

I spent the night with a lovely Cheetah couple who were kind enough to give me food and water, and a bed to sleep on. In return, I helped them farm for their food earlier that day. Their names were Hunter and Jade. Hunter explained to me that he was once a member of the tribe of Avalaar, but when he married Jade, he left to be a simple farmer. Though I couldn't talk, I was getting pretty good at Charades. And it was a fun game for them to play as well.

The next morning, I packed up what little I had in my pockets and headed out. The two gave me a backpack filled with cloaks, food, water and blankets to keep me warm. I thanked them and waved goodbye as I walked towards the rising sun. I felt happy to have entertained them for the night and began to run along the paths made recently by moles and other small creatures. I was soaring as I jumped into the air as if the gravity was lighter than it was supposed to be. I leaped into the air and landed a few yards away. This was what I did to pass the time as I travelled.

The next village was two days from Hunter and Jade's so I spent the night in a tall oak tree where even the rain couldn't get to due to the thickness of the branches and the leaves. It just so happened to rain that night. Thunder and lightning appeared everywhere. I rested on a thick branch that looked more like a floor panel than a branch. As I was about to close my eyes, I heard voices from below. I looked down to see Two dragons both very young.

"I knew we shouldn't have run away from home, Indy." said one of them. Indy, the other one replied, saying:

"How was I supposed to know it would be stormy?" Both dragons sat under the tree, shivering, cold and wet. The rain seemed to be going against them, still wetting them as they sat by the tree trunk. I pulled out a blanket from my pack and placed it on the branch I was resting on. Then I hopped down and landed by the two dragons. They both screamed, scared that I would hurt them. Without explaining myself, I grabbed them and jumped back up into the tree. I released them and let them watch me with caution and wonder as I grabbed two more blankets. I placed one over each of them and began to dry them off. They didn't take their eyes off of me for a second. When they were dry, I let them sort through the blankets and shape it as they saw fit. Like me, they didn't talk much to other people. But I couldn't talk at all, they just refused to. They fixed their blankets into little nests and laid down in them. They closed their eyes finally and went to sleep.

I went through my bag and pulled out two cloaks. I placed them both over their nests to keep them warm. Then I leaned back against the tree trunk and closed my eyes.

When I woke up, the two dragons were staring at me, their eyes never blinking. These dragons were strange creatures indeed. I began to wonder if I imagined them talking or not. I swapped eyes between the two. I could see a bit of each other in them and decided that these two were siblings. I went to get up and stretch myself, but the two dragons flinched and retreated under their cloaked nests. I sighed and rolled over, falling off the branch. I landed on my feet and stood up straight. I heard the dragons getting out of their nests and looking down. I walked over to the tree next to me and looked up. There were a bunch of apples hanging from it. I jumped up and picked four apples for them. As I landed, I placed all of them on my left arm, leaning against my chest. I placed my right hand over them to stop them from falling.

I made my way back to the tree the dragons were in and jumped up, they ducked back under the covers and waited. I could see their eyes watching me. I grabbed two of the apples and placed one next to each of their nests in front of them.

After a minute or so, they finally stuck their heads out and slowly grabbed the apples. They were like Siamese twins moving in sync with each other. I smiled warmly at them as they ate the apples. I placed the other two out in front of them, slowly and watched them perform the process all over again. Indy was half way through her second apple when the both of them heard a noise and looked around. I watched them carefully, listening for any sign of danger. I heard a twig snap behind them. I got ready to jump out between the threat and them. They could tell I was watching behind them and turned to look in the same direction.

At that moment, a strange creature emerged from the bushes. It had long fangs and looked like a lion. The two dragons screamed as the long toothed lion went to leap at them. I slid between them and kicked the thing in the mouth, narrowly missing its fangs. While it was stunned, I grabbed the two dragons and the pack and jumped high in the air. The creature followed, jumping just as high and twice as fast. As we both began to fall. It went to take a bite. I swung my legs forward and tucked them in, sending me and the dragons a bit higher than the creature. It roared in defiance and fell to the ground. I landed on my feet, sliding along the ground creating trail marks. I finally stopped and let the dragons go on the ground. They backed away and turned to look at me.

"That was a sabre-toothed tiger and you beat it as if it were nothing. Who are you?" asked Indy. I shrugged, wishing I knew.

"You don't speak much do you?" asked the other one. I shook my head and pointed to my mouth opening and closing it.

"You can't talk at all." he said. I shook my head. Both dragons looked at each other then back to me.

"You poor thing. My name's Indy and this is my twin brother Ammy. We've run away from home. Now I wish we hadn't. We faced that storm and now the tiger." she said.

"I'm glad we chose this. We wouldn't have met our hero here." said Ammy. Indy looked at her brother. I smiled at them both. The tiger got up and growled menacingly. I turned to look at it. It was getting ready to charge. I looked back at the two dragons and made a sign for them to close their eyes. They did so obediently. I turned back to the tiger and walked towards it.

**Ammy**

The next few moments were just growls and scratches. I could have sworn I heard something like the sounds of swords clashing together, but neither of the two had a sword on them. The tiger definitely didn't and I didn't see one on the hero. The roaring stopped and the next thing I heard was the sound of footsteps and the sound of swords being sheathed. Then a hand rested on my back and urged me to move away from where the sounds were heard.

When we were far away from the tiger, I opened my eyes and saw absolutely no scratches on him. Not even his clothing was tarnished.

"Indy, look. He's not hurt at all." I said in surprise. Indy opened her eyes and looked at him. She was surprised at first, and then it turned into happiness.

"Wow, you must be really strong. How old are you?" she asked. _There she goes again._ I thought.

"Indy, leave him alone, he just saved us, he doesn't deserve your torturous flirting." I said. Indy looked at me and growled. I chuckled and looked back to our hero.

"Please, could you help us find our home? We'd like to go back." I said. Indy looked at him too. He thought about this for a minute, and then nodded. We both went to hug him.

"Thank you so much. We owe you big time." said Indy. I rolled my eyes at her.


	8. Chapter 7: Lost then found

Chapter 7: Lost then found

**Mar**

I walked with the two dragons back to the tree. They pointed the direction for us to head in, where they came from and together we walked. That evening, they told me about their parents and how they used to tell them the stories of their ancestors. They repeated those stories to me and I listened with curiosity. Indy kept asking me simple questions like where I was from and what I was. I would always reply that I didn't know.

"What do you know about yourself then?" she asked. I smiled and handed her an apple.

"That he's kind." Ammy replied for me. I nodded. Indy took the apple and smiled. She bit down on it and got juice on my arm.

"Whoops!" she said, giggling. She leaned over and licked the drop off. I smiled at her and she smiled back, blushing.

"Oh, Jeez!" said Ammy, covering his eyes with his tail. I leaned against the trunk and looked up at the sky. Indy leaned against me and looked up at me.

"Stop smothering the guy Indy, he'll get bored of you if you keep at it." I said. Indy looked at him, then back up to me. I just closed my eyes and smiled at her. She seemed contempt and rested her head on my lap. Ammy got up and did the same on the other side. The fire was blazing and the two dragons were asleep within minutes.

I gently lifted their heads and placed them on the tree's branch that we were resting on. I got up and stretched my legs. I decided to go and look for any danger. I bent my legs and pushed down, jumping high above the tree and landed hard on the ground, making cracks a few yards away from the tree. I walked around the tree, listening, smelling and looking for any sign of danger.

I saw in the distance a light in the forest a mile away from where we were. I looked up at the tree and figured they'd be safe for the time being. I ran as fast as I could toward the light, thinking that maybe, just maybe that light was a search party looking for the children.

I ducked and weaved through the trees and bushes that blocked my path to the light. I could hear voices calling out the dragons' names. It was definitely a search party looking for them. I ran in front of them and skidded to a stop.

A large pink dragoness ran forward and stopped just in front of me.

"Please sir, have you seen two young dragons coming this way? Their names are Indy and Ammy. They're both twins and they're a light blue colour." she asked. I nodded, giving her hope.

"Really? Please take us to them." she begged. I nodded, pointing in the direction of the tree. I jumped up over the trees and headed in that direction. The dragons all took to the skies and followed me.

I hopped along the treetops, making my way toward the tree. I stopped just short of the area where they were. I could hear screaming from within the branches.

"Indy!" the pink dragon exclaimed. I ran forward and jumped up into the tree. I saw Indy crouched in a corner covered in blood. She was screaming and crying. Then I heard a growling noise and looked over to see Ammy's body lying limp with a chunk torn out of his neck. He was breathing, just. Another sabre-toothed tiger like the one before was about to chow down on his neck again. I ducked forward and stuck my fingers in front of his mouth.

With a growl, my nails extended into long needle-like claws that stuck through the tiger's head. Indy screamed, covering her eyes. I threw the tiger out of the tree and went to grab Indy. She fought back, but I was too strong. I jumped out of the tree and landed among the crowd of dragons. The pink one ran forward and grabbed her baby girl from me.

"Indy. Thank you so much sir, what about Ammy?" she asked. I turned and went back into the tree. I knelt down next to him and looked at the wound. He was gasping, choking on his blood. I wandered if there was anything I could do, if I was able to kill so easily, then surely I should be able to heal just as easily. It was too late. Ammy's eyes went dead and he stopped breathing.

This was the first time I'd witnessed a child die in front of me and it made me sick to my stomach. I leaned forward and picked up the lifeless body of the boy once known as Ammy. The pink dragoness went to get him too, but stopped as she saw I was walking slowly. I brought him up to her and knelt down. She began to cry, Indy already screaming with tears falling down her face. I saw the whole scene with the pink dragoness and Indy, then looked at the rest of them. They were crying for Indy and her mother's loss. I looked down at him, my eyes watering. A tear formed in my eye and I began to cry with them. I hardly knew them or the children, but I was just as sad to have failed somebody who staked his life on me. My cries were silent, just like my voice. Tears began to stream down my face each one falling on Ammy's neck wound. A sizzling sound was heard and they all stopped crying except for me who didn't think to look at what was happening. A gasp snapped me out of my sadness and I looked down at where the gasp had come from. Ammy was coughing up the blood in his lungs and beginning to breathe again. I watched with amazement as Ammy's wound sealed up when the last tear fell on his neck.

Everybody looked at me, dumbstruck. I was as surprised as they were. My tears had brought Ammy back to life.

"Mummy?" he asked. Their mother came forward and grabbed her boy from my arms. I sat there, unable to move, think, unable to do anything. I almost didn't see Indy waving her tail in front of me.

"Hero, come on, we're going home. Mummy says you can come with us." she said. I looked at their mother who smiled, tears in her eyes and nodded. I slowly got up and walked toward them. The other dragons all huddled around me and offered their compliments to me.

"Gee, you don't say much buddy, are you alright?" asked one of the dragons. Another one spoke up.

"He's probably still shocked about his newly found power." he said. Indy came and walked next to me.

"Actually, he can't talk at all." she said, matter-of-factly. I smiled down at her. The other dragons all made realising sound as they understood what Indy was saying. I suddenly felt a pain all over my body and collapsed on one knee.

"Hero!" called Indy. Everybody stopped and looked at me to see what was going on. I heard a voice in my head speak to me. It was a light voice, easily able to strike fear into the most terrifying of creatures.

"_What does a man do when he's lost his memory? He goes to find it. What are you doing? You're not bothering. That's good. It'll help me in the future._" the voice said. The pain stopped suddenly and I felt something wet in my hand. I looked down and saw blood on my palm, my own blood on my hand. It burned into me, the blood melting at my skin. One of the dragons froze my hand, covering it in ice. It cracked and what we all saw was nothing next to amazing. My right hand was crimson red.


	9. Chapter : Romours

Chapter 8: Rumours

**Spyro**

It's been three years since we visited the dragonfly village, my home, our home. Now I was living with Cynder in Warfang with Terrador, Cyril and Volteer teaching us to be the next guardians. But we were to be two very special Guardians; leaders of the next four general candidates. Already there were four picked out of the whole lot, each one of them big fans of me and Cynder. There was Flame, Frost, Diane who liked to be called Die, and Tiya. Flame was a simple fire dragon, easily amused and very friendly. But he was also strong and hard to beat in manoeuvrability. Frost was more of a ranged attacker, firing ice bullets at his foes while flying in a circle around them at a distance. He was generally nice but didn't like to socialize unless it benefited him in any way. He reminded me a lot about Cyril and his antisocialism. Die was an extremely hot headed female Earth dragoness, who knew what it was to be a warrior. There were debates about how she was raised. Some thought she was raised by a village of aggressive Cheetahs, others just thought it was her Earth dragon spirit coming out. She fought with her body, not relying on her powers until later. Tiya was rather shy and quiet for a lightning dragoness. Her fighting style varied depending on how excited or afraid she was. In other words, she was a complete enigma. You wouldn't be able to tell if she was going to fight ferociously out of defence or just run away.

"Spyro, how're you doing?" asked Flame as he walked up with the others. I looked to them with tired eyes.

"Hey Flame, guys. How was your training today?" I asked. Die was the first to reply, complaining as usual.

"Ugh. Don't get me started. I think Terrador's getting too old for this crap. He can hardly keep up with me." she said, turning her head away and looking up at the sky. I always thought this ironic seeing as how she was an Earth dragon, she would look to the sky.

"That's not what I saw." said Frost, speaking up. Die looked at him, cruel eyes trying to break him into silence once again.

"From what I saw, you were panting as if the room had run out of air. I think you had it backwards there Diane." he said. Die growled at him.

"Shut your mouth you little pansy. What would you know? And don't call me Diane! Only my friends can call me that." she snapped at him.

"And that would be how many? One, including yourself?" he retorted. Die growled at him.

"You little Popsicle sucker, I'll…" Frost stuck his tail out under her neck; it was sharp and jagged, cold as ice itself. Though Die was hot headed, she wasn't very good at fighting. She kept up appearances though.

"One more word from that mouth of yours and I'm freezing your lips closed." he said. Frost was also a professional in close range but he preferred to study his enemies first.

"Cut it out you guys, we're in the presence of our superior here." said Flame, pointing his tail to me. I chuckled, turning to them.

"Relax guys. You two have to be friends if you want to pass the final exams." I said, going up to Tiya.

"You guys need to be more like Flame and Tiya here. Friendly, calm, a little bit shy and willing to make friends with anyone who would want to make friends in return, right?" I asked. Tiya turned to me and smiled, nodding.

"Right!" she replied. I chuckled and went to leave them to their own devices. Cynder landed next to me.

"Hey Cynder!" called Die. Die liked Cynder, she knew about her past and practically fell in love with her for it. Cynder however didn't like the fact she idolised her for her past. She turned away, walking with me, not even giving Die a second glance. Die drooped down, feeling crushed.

"Spyro, I heard a rumour that some dragons have been going missing." said Cynder as we walked.

"Really? Is that odd? I'm still new to this whole dragon society. I kind of miss the days when it was just you and I, and Ignitus and the others." I said, turning to her.

"That's really sweet of you to say Spyro, but this is important. Dragons aren't supposed to go missing. We've been asked to take the others out on a training exercise. To investigate these disappearances. We've also heard tell of a suspicious looking creature wandering through each town staying for only one night." she said.

"What sort of mysterious creature?" I asked. Cynder shrugged and shook her head.

"We don't know. There's never been a creature like him. He's bipedal like a Cheetah, but he hasn't got any fur except for on his head. If he was short and fat, I'd almost be inclined to call him an ape." she replied. I looked down at the ground, thinking.

"Perhaps the apes have evolved." I suggested. Cynder shrugged again, stopping. I stopped too.

"Maybe. He has absolutely weapons on him as far as anyone can tell, yet there has been an increase in Sabre-tooth deaths where ever he's been seen. One of our informants has seen him staying with a family in the southern region. The mother claims that he saved her children, so perhaps he's been ruled out." she said. I nodded.

"So the wanderer is just wandering? That makes sense. So the disappearances of the dragons needs to be blamed on someone else. Perhaps we could ask for this wanderer's help." I suggested.

"That's part of our mission too. Come on, we'd best get the others." she said, turning back to the group.

"If they haven't killed each other already." I added, following behind her. We walked up to the group who were just standing in a circle, talking.

"Hey you guys. Looks like you got a mission with us today." I said, drawing their attention to us.

"Hey Spyro, hello Cynder." said Tiya, shyly. Cynder smiled and nodded at her. I just smiled.

"Okay so we've got some dragons who have gone missing and our job is to investigate these disappearances. That shouldn't be too hard for you guys, right?" I asked. Everybody nodded.

"Well I don't know about Diane here. She still looks warn out from trying to catch up with Terrador and lying about it afterward." said Frost. Die growled at him.

"You're a pest, do you know that? An great big f…" she went to say. Cynder cut her off.

"Anyway! Our mission is starting effective immediately. Get what you need and meet us at the South gate." she said. As the majority of them left, Die stayed behind.

"Cynder, what have I done to make you hate me? Tell me, please. I idolise you and you throw it in my face. Why?" she asked. Cynder didn't reply, she just turned and walked toward the south gate. She jumped off the edge of the path and landed on the ground level.

"Don't take it too hard Die. Cynder's just upset that she's being Idolised for her past. She hates what she did when she was under Malefor's control." I said.

"But I don't idolise her for that. I idolise her for her abilities, the same abilities she had when she worked for and eventually defeated Malefor." she protested. I smiled at her.

"Regardless, being idolised for what she did doesn't fit well with her, whether it be working under Malefor or destroying him. Because either reason brings up bad memories. Her abilities had been developed because she was under his thrall. Her abilities up till today are all because Malefor had trained her. Every time she uses her abilities, she's reminded of her life growing up. She doesn't want to be idolised for that. I doubt she even wants to be idolised at all." I explained. Die looked down at the ground level where Cynder was watching us talk. She continued to walk when she saw she was spotted.

"I'm sorry, but I can't stop idolising her. She's just so strong and brave. I admire that." she said.

"Maybe you should start looking for other qualities that Cynder possesses that not even Malefor could have put into her. Like her love of life or the fact that she bravely puts on a smile even though what I just said before eats away at her every day of her life. She thinks I don't know, but I can tell in her eyes that she wants to be acknowledged for something that doesn't involve Malefor." I said. Die nodded and looked back at Cynder who we could just see standing at the South gate.

"Any clues?" she asked. I smiled.

"I think she would like it if you followed her example, learn from her moves and adapt them to your own. Make her your teacher and when she asks about the moves you perform, tell her what you think." I said, jumping off the side and spreading my wings. I joined Cynder at the gate.

"What was that all about?" she asked. I smiled and kissed her cheek. She seemed surprised.

"Just giving her some advice. She really wants your approval, Cynder. So she's going to learn off you." I said.

"What? But Spyro…" she said, but I cut her off.

"No Buts. Let her learn your technique. Make some good out of what Malefor taught you, besides using it. Pass it on and it'll become what you teach, not Malefor." I said. Cynder looked at me in dismay. I simply smiled.

"Cynder, do you trust me?" I asked her. She nodded.

"Yes, of course Spyro, but do you really have to have me teach Malefor's teachings to the next generation?" she demanded. I nodded.

"If you teach it, they won't be his any more. They'll be your teachings. If you want, add your own little twists to it in order to ensure that they're you're teachings." I replied, putting on a serious face.

"Now is this going to ruin my day?" I asked her. She frowned at me and gave me an evil look.

"No." she replied. I smiled and nodded. As our conversation finished, the guardian candidates landed near us, Die landed roughly next to Cynder, who tutted and groaned.

"Right, now before the sun sets, let's get as much ground covered as we can." I said, taking off through the gate.


	10. Chapter 9: Training

Chapter 9: Training

**Heinous**

I woke up the next morning with sleep still in my eyes. I rubbed the sandy stuff out of the corners with my forepaw and went over to the basin. I dunked my head under the water inside it and quickly pulled it out.

"Oh, Jeez! That's freezing." I exclaimed, shaking my head, trying to get rid of the water, and effectively, the cold too.

"Ah, so you're awake Heinous. That's good. Now we can begin your training." said my master.

"Yes, Master. May I ask, why did you save me from poverty all those years ago?" I asked. My master thought about this for a second, then replied.

"In my past life, I was defeated by my enemies because they had what I lacked. And that was Teamwork. I fought them by myself and lost as a result. Now thanks to my naivety, I have only one power remaining and that is the power of darkness. Now that's fine if I want to fend off enemies and move between the shadows like teleporting. But that's not all I want to do. I want to mercilessly crush, shred and slice my enemies into little pieces. My instincts are telling me to do this and soon. So I need your help to get my powers back." he replied.

"I will serve you in whatever manner you see fit for me my master." I said. He smiled and stepped up to me.

"Good, my dear Heinous. Now I've received a rumour that there is a strong being somewhere out there and I would like you to go and find him. Bring him back to me and we'll see if we can't get him to join us. You will be my offensive and defensive, while he will be the weapon you use. Basically, I'm sending you out to find an apprentice for yourself." he replied. I bowed my head to him.

"I am deeply grateful, Master." I said, smiling. My master walked back to his bed and stretched.

"I am weak and require rest. I am aware that it is still early in the morning, but being a teenager again gives me the right to lazily sleep in until noon, does it not?" he asked. I giggled, happy to serve such a funny master.

"I understand. Shall I look for him now, or did you want me to train instead?" I asked him.

"Finding him is effectively your training for the day. When he has returned with you, he will double as your sparing partner. Learn his technique and use it to your advantage." he replied.

"Forgive my rudeness, Master, but why are you so certain that he will join us?" I asked. He looked outside the house for a moment.

"I can feel his power from here and it is screaming evil at the moment. It comes and goes in bursts and waves. He's travelling along the path to the Atlawa villages. Intercept him and as I said before, bring him here. Go now." he ordered. I bowed my head again and went out the front door. I spotted the two pests by the lake near the hut.

"Good morning Heinous. Sleep in much?" asked Glaedr. I growled at him. Both him and Candice laughed.

"Just because you made the mistake of sleeping in, don't blame it on us. We tried to wake you, but you were too busy calling out the master's name in your sleep and wriggling around." she said. My face grew bright red.

"I was not dreaming about the master! I was dreaming about my childhood. Call it a nightmare if you will. Now leave me be, I have business to attend to." I said.

"Oh so he's informed you about the mission then?" asked Glaedr. I gave him a stone cold look.

"What?" I demanded. Glaedr and Candice both snickered, purposely letting me watch their enjoyment.

"Our orders are to go with you to retrieve the new guy." replied Glaedr. Candice smiled and leaned against her brother. I groaned and looked back inside the hut.

"Traitor." I muttered as I saw him smiling through the window. He chuckled and went back to the bed.

Without a word, I took to the sky, the twins close behind me. We flew towards the path that the new guy was said to be travelling. We landed near the entrance to the Atlawa villages and began walking down the path, sure to catch him coming toward us.

"I wonder if he's a dragon like the rest of us?" said Candice to Glaedr. I rolled my eyes as I walked.

"He'd have to be. If the master can feel his aura from this distance, he must be a powerful dragon, just like he was before." I said. Glaedr made a noise that signified that he agreed with me.

"I don't know, I've heard rumours that a creature walking on two legs with no fur except for his head is travelling along the pathways." argued Candice. I stopped and turned to her.

"What sort of creature?" I asked. Candice and Glaedr both shrugged, unsure themselves of what he looked like. I turned back and continued walking, thinking of what he may look like. Practically a naked Cheetah? Gross! I heard Candice shout out as we walked for another few minutes from the path. I looked up and saw a very tall bipedal creature walking towards us. He was easily as tall as I was standing on my hind legs. He seemed well built for a wanderer. He stopped just short of us and looked up at me.

"Are you the wanderer everyone's talking about?" I asked. The creature just shrugged, waiting for me to say something.

"Are you the one that's been killing the sabre-toothed tigers in the vicinities?" I asked. He nodded. I noticed that his face was covered by a scarf over his mouth and what looked like goggles over his eyes. He almost looked like a giant well built mole. He pulled his goggles up and let them rest on his forehead. His eyes were a beautiful golden colour and his brows were a light blonde. He was easily the most strange creature I'd yet to see. Then he removed the scarf to reveal a perfect mouth and chin. I was almost speechless. His body was covered in a long cloak and I almost didn't want to see the rest of him in case I were to faint.

"Wow, you're really something. Would you mind coming with us? Our master has a proposition for you." said Candice, thinking with her mouth instead of her mind again. The wanderer looked down at her and gave her a similar look that I always gave her. Then he looked at Glaedr, and then to me. I felt as if his eyes were looking beyond me. I was frozen.

Without warning, he nodded and waited for me to lead the way. I crouched down to let him on my back.

"This is a one time only thing. You're not going to get on me again after this, alright?" I asked. There was no reply. I didn't think much about it and took to the air. Glaedr and Candice followed behind, making sure that he didn't fall off.

As we reached the hut, our master was waiting at the door with a pleased look on his face. I landed just in front of him and crouched down to let the wanderer off.

"Welcome my friend. I've been expecting you. Won't you come inside and have some refreshments?" he asked. The three of us seemed surprised at the question. The wanderer nodded and removed his head gear again, and this time the cloak, revealing a really freakish body. His upper torso was wider than his stomach and as he removed his bag and left it by the door, he didn't bend. He just let his shoulders hunch forward and droop. As he straightened, I could see through the black sleeveless tunic, his shoulder blades moving with his arms.

"Did the master just say there were refreshments?" asked Glaedr. Candice nodded and spoke with a sad tone to her voice.

"The master never offered us refreshments when he asked us to join. I don't like this." she said. So this guy was supposed to be my sparing partner? What secrets did he have that would interest our master so much he would go through all the trouble to make refreshments himself?

"Well done you three. Now come on inside. There are refreshments for you all as well. I want our new guest to feel safe and comfortable within our new home." he said. This began to scare me. Our master was a fair type, sure. And often funny, but he was never overly kind like this.

"I'm fairly alarmed here." I said to Glaedr and Candice as we walked into the hut. Both of them nodded.

"Uh – huh." they said, agreeing. The wanderer sat down on the ground, his legs crossed. He rested his arms between them and let his body slouch forward. He was really tall. His hair was light blonde like his eyebrows. I wondered if he was some sort of ape, but he couldn't have been. He was too…evolved was the word that would have described him.

"So, what should we call you?" asked our master. the wanderer shrugged and raised his right hand, removing the glove that had been on it. I thought it weird for someone to wear only one glove. That is until I saw his right hand. It was red as if blood had dried all over it.

"Red." I said. Both the wanderer and our master looked at me. He smiled, looking to the wanderer.

"There's an idea. Red. I find it catchy. What do you think?" he asked, looking to the rest of us. I nodded, not really fussed with the name.

"I think it suits him, given the colour of his hand." said Candice. Glaedr just nodded in agreement, not taking his eyes off the hand. Our master chuckled and nodded too.

"Yes, you're right. Very well then. Your new name is Red. This is Heinous, Glaedr and Candice. And my name is Malefor." he said.


	11. Chapter 10: Impartial

Chapter 10: Impartial

**Mar**

I didn't understand what these dragons wanted me for, but I guessed I must be pretty important to them. The three behind me seemed surprised, which made me guess that I was being specially treated. This lead me to believe they wanted me to join them. My thoughts were confirmed as Malefor spoke up.

"I'm going to be plain with you, Red. I want you to join our group. Of course, we'll pay you. You would be like a hired help for us to put it more clearly." he said. I thought about this as he began to drivel on about random parts involving my potential job that meant little to me. Ammy and Indy's mother was low on currency and becoming bankrupt. She would soon lose their home and they would be sent on the streets. I didn't want this for them. The job didn't matter to me, so long as I was getting paid well enough to keep a roof over their heads, then I would be fine with whatever it was.

"So do we have a deal?" he asked. I stared into his eyes and smiled. I could tell he was an honest dragon, regardless of his evil aura. I nodded, offering my hand. He took it with his paw and I shook it, sealing the deal.

"Very good. I will ask you to help train these three to become stronger. There is only so much I can do in my current state." he said. I went to stand up and turned to the dragons. The big red one swallowed. She was a nice shade of red too. A sort of mix between red and pink. She was a sort of Maroon colour. The other two who I suspected were twins like Ammy and Indy, were a dark shade of grey. Perhaps they were light black instead. Either way, it didn't matter to me. I pointed to the door and then went through it. The twins followed, but the maroon one stayed behind.

"Master, I'm confused. I thought you said he was to be my apprentice, like I am you." she said.

"I have changed my mind. I felt his aura up close and I can tell that he is even more powerful than I could ever be. How, I don't know. And there would be no point in stealing that power because I fear the density of it would crush me. He is your equal, if nothing else." he replied. The maroon dragoness nodded, bowed her head and went outside to follow me. I signalled for them to stay where they were. Malefor walked out and sat on the sidelines, waiting to see what I had in me.

I turned to them and raised my right hand. I flipped my palm up and curled my index finger, taunting them to come at me. The female twin, known as Candice went first, going for a simple strike with her tail. She flew in low and flipped at the last second. I stepped aside and grabbed her tail, spinning around. I flung her into her brother and waited for the maroon one to come at me. She didn't move. This surprised me as I was sure she would want to have at me.

The twins began to attack simultaneously. They flew left and right, closing in on the sides. They began to charge in for a head but. I waited for them to come in close. Then I reached my arms out to the sides and grabbed their heads in my palms. I heard the maroon one gasp and Malefor chuckle. I threw them forward, making them fly into each other.

"Ow!" cried Candice, rubbing her head. Glaedr rubbed hers as well, not bothering with his own. Sibling love was such a beautiful thing to see. The maroon one did nothing still, and continued to watch. I could see she was analysing me. Studying my movements. I would have to save the best tricks for her. Glaedr and Candice got up wearily and dizzily walked toward me. I stepped forward and booted Glaedr back toward the maroon one, then as Candice looked back at her brother, I did the same to her.

"Very good, impressive. That'll do for now. Heinous, get in there and show me what you've learned just by watching. She dashed toward me. She was fast for a big dragon. She was easily the oldest here aside from Malefor and she had something in her eyes that told me she did not want to disappoint her master. She jumped up above me. I went to look up, but the sun shone in my eyes.

"He needs to see his enemy to defend against it." she shouted. I stepped back as I heard her voice come closer and closer. She landed not a few feel away from me. I saw her swing her tail at me. I brought one leg up and stepped on it. She screamed, pulling it out from under me. She backed away, trying to get at her tail. I stopped, looking to Malefor for an explanation.

"She had an accident with her tail shortly after I took her in. A considerably large tree fell on it and broke her tail in three places. Those spikes you see sticking out of the sides of her tail once belonged inside her tail, but thanks to a bit of healing magic, I was able to heal her and give her an upgrade." he said. Heinous screamed, rolling around on her back, trying to grip her tail. I looked down and saw a piece of one of her spikes by my foot. I bent down to pick it up. She looked over at me and saw the spike in my hand.

"You bastard!" she cried. I walked over to her, trying to see if I could put it back on, but she batted me away with one of her wings. I dropped the spike and went through three trees.

The fourth, I was stuck against. I leaned forward and unstuck myself, watching as she screamed in pain. I saw a trail of blood wherever her tail went. I casually walked up and grabbed her wing the next time she flapped it at me. I brought out one of my claws and poked at the pressure points in her membrane. Her wing went limp. As it fell, I retracted the claw.

"What did you do?" she demanded. She began fidgeting and with lightning speed, I poked at all her pressure points, temporarily paralysing her. I grabbed the spike, then her tail. I fitted the spike in with the jagged parts on her tail and placed my hand over the wound.

"Let go of my tail, asshole!" she screamed. I sighed, feeling a cool breeze in my hand. Light shone between my fingers and everybody watched as I removed my hand, revealing an unbroken spike in her tail.

"What did you do?" she asked, curious as to how I did it. I just smiled at her and pinched a point between her shoulder and neck. She went limp and began to move of her own free will again.

"Th – Thank you." she said, looking at me. I stood up to my full height and cracked my neck, then bent forward, feeling the bones in my back crack. I went over to Malefor and waited for his new orders.

"Very good, Red. You did well to show us all your abilities. You can even paralyse a dragon with the tips of your fingers. That's not a feat easily gained, I'm sure. Welcome to the family, Red." he said. He led me back to the hut and showed me a room.

"This is where Heinous sleeps. I haven't been able to make a new room yet so you two are going to have to share." he said.

"What?" demanded Heinous.


	12. Chapter 11: Investigation

Chapter 11: Investigation

**Spyro**

"Sorry, but Hero left the village yesterday. He was headed toward the Atlawa villages. He should be there by now." said a young blue dragoness, who went by the name Indy. I sighed.

"Well that blows our plan out the window. Do you know what he looks like?" I asked. She closed one eye, probably trying to picture him through that closed eye.

"Well he was wearing a black cloak that an old friend of ours made for him. I gave him daddy's old goggles and a red scarf I made just for him. He doesn't talk so don't ask him tricky questions, okay? Oh and when you see him, tell him Indy and Ammy miss him." with that, she began to skip off towards a group of kids who were waiting for her.

"Anything?" asked Cynder as she landed by me. I shook my head, turning to her. The others landed behind her.

"Just his appearance. What he's wearing and where he was headed. A little girl said he was headed toward the Atlawa clans. So that'll be our next stop. The girl says she doesn't know who's been taking the dragons, but she's vouched for the wanderer's innocence. We have a name for him now. They call him Hero. I'm not sure why though." I said. Cynder nodded.

"Alright then, let's head over to the Atlawa clans." said Cynder. I nodded to her and took to the sky.

"What if he's not there?" asked Tiya suddenly. We all looked at her as we flew over the trees toward the Atlawa.

"Why do you say that Tiya?" asked Flame. Tiya blushed and turned away. Flame went up next to her.

"It's just that I don't think this Hero guy is with the Atlawas. I just have a funny feeling." she said. I led the group into the nearest clearing to talk about Tiya's feeling on the matter. When Tiya got a feeling, good or bad, it was best to listen and discuss it.

"Is it a good or a bad feeling?" I asked, walking up to her. Tiya cringed away in fear. I shook my head.

"Don't be afraid Tiya. Please just answer my question. Is it a good feeling, or a bad one?" I asked. Tiya shook her head.

"It's a bad one. I have a bad feeling that he's not there." she said shyly. I turned to Cynder. She seemed fairly disturbed by this bit of information.

"Cynder, I know that Tiya's instincts are always right in this area, but isn't there still a chance that that she may be incorrect this time? I mean he's not a dragon or a cheetah or anything that we know of. Maybe the rules apply differently to this guy." said Die. Cynder turned to her.

"You may be right Die. But given Tiya's track record, let's prepare for the worst." she said. Die nodded, putting her game face on. Flame and the others seemed restless.

"This isn't good. What if he was taken like the dragons?" said Flame. Frost nodded. Then Tiya spoke up.

"Something tells me that he went of his own free will. I think he's going to begin working with whoever stole the dragons in the first place." she said. We all sunk our heads and tails. Even the guardians' wings had drooped.

"If that's the case, then I don't think we'll be able to handle it alone. We'll have to stick together if we want to make it. Cynder, Die, that means no arguing. The same goes for you too Frost." I said, taking to the sky before they could argue. They followed me, Cynder coming up on my right.

"I don't like this, not one bit. I thought we could live in peace for the rest of our lives and now this?" she argued. I nodded, agreeing with her fully.

"This is too much. I feel as if I've gotten rusty over the past three years. Too soft." I said. Cynder banked closer to me and gave me a kiss as she flew over me.

"I haven't." she teased. I smiled, glad to have her as my lovely mate. I would cherish her forever.


	13. Chapter 12: Awkwardness at night

Chapter 12: Awkwardness at night

**Heinous**

"I can't believe I have to share a room with this guy. What is the master thinking? Why can't he just sleep in the living area?" I complained to Glaedr and Candice. The both of them shrugged.

"Better you than us. We already have enough trouble sharing our bed with each other. It won't fit another." said Candice. I sighed, wishing I could growl at them, but they had a point.

"It's going to be so awkward having him sleep in the same bed as me. I mean it's alright for you two, you're brother and sister, but he's a total stranger to me. Doesn't the master have any sense of decency?" I cried. The twins shrugged.

"I don't know, but I think Red's already in your room right now. There's been a lot of banging and hammering going on from in there." said Glaedr. I looked at the door.

"I thought that sound was coming from outside!" I exclaimed as I ran through the door into my room. I looked to the right of the entrance and saw Red kneeling down with some sort of hammer. He was making something out of wood. Where the wood came from I didn't know. I hoped he didn't get it from anything I owned.

"Hey Heinous! There's a great big tree that's fallen behind the house. You know anything about this?" asked Glaedr. I looked out the window and saw that a tree had fallen near the house and had chunks of it missing. I looked back at Red and his project.

"What are you making Red?" I asked, curious now. He stood up and sat at the foot of my bed and raised his arms up to chest level.

"A chair?" I asked. He turned to me and nodded, getting back to his work. I examined the chair and saw that it had some flaws.

"The back of the chair is at an angle. It needs to be vertical." I said. Red pointed to the bed and placed both his hands together against one side of his face.

"It's a chair _and_ a bed?" I asked, really surprised and impressed. He nodded, continuing with his work.

"So we won't have to sleep together in the same bed then?" I asked. He shook his head. I exhaled in relief.

"Oh thank the ancestors. I was just thinking it would be awkward if we did have to sleep in the same bed. You know what I mean?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Seriously? You don't know what I mean when I say it would be awkward if we slept in the same bed?" I asked. He shook his head again. This was _really_ surprising. Just then, Candice came into the room and saw the chair.

"Whoa! Cool chair Red." she complimented. Red went to sit in it. It held alright as he leaned back against it. He smiled with satisfaction. Glaedr came in too and accidentally bumped Candice. She squealed and let out a chilling blizzard, freezing Red and the chair in place.

"Glaedr!" she snapped. I stared at Red in his chair, he didn't seem bothered by the cold. Then I realized he was actually frozen. I began to laugh at him, then I heard a creaking sound. The chair collapsed in on itself from the blizzard and Red landed with a crash, dust and frost rising into the air. We all coughed, waving the stuff away.

"Red?" I called. A few seconds later, the dust and frost cleared and Red slowly got up from the wreckage. He stretched and yawned. Candice curled up, sorry for freezing the chair into breaking. He looked at the broken pieces and picked them up. He walked past us and threw them out the window. Then he went for the door and stopped as he saw Candice curled up by it. He just bent down, picked her up and placed her out of his way as he walked through the doorway. I however, wasn't about to let them get away with sticking him in the same bed as me like the master.

"You two are dead!" I declared. Glaedr chuckled.

"Why so glum, Heinous. You should be thanking us. You need a male in your life. He's young isn't he?" asked Glaedr. I snarled at him.

"Dead!" I shouted, attacking him. He laughed as I lunged at him. I growled at him, trying to rip him to shreds.

"This is it? Come on, Heinous. You're getting boring. This used to get me off you know." he teased. I screamed at him, trying to get just one good grip on him. He was getting too fast for me. I gave up after a minute, panting.

"That's all you got? You disappoint me Heinous." He said, walking out of the house. I growled after him. That was all I could do.

"Why did you two join the master's revolt against the world?" I asked Candice. She smiled.

"Glaedr wants to be his successor. He wants to show the world that he can be even worse than the master himself. I believe he will do it when the time is right." she replied. I wanted to know what she meant by _when the time is right_, but thought better of it.

"What about you?" I asked. She smiled and replied.

"Where Glaedr goes, I go." she said. I nodded, making no move to speak with her any more than I needed to. I began to wonder where Red was.

"Heinous. You should have a look at what Red's doing now." called our master. Both Candice and I looked at each other before running outside to see what was going on. Red had somehow managed to fall several tall trees and was beginning to create what looked like the frame for another house.

"I'd like to see you try to freeze that thing in one go." I teased, turning to Candice. She shook her head.

"Unlike you or Glaedr, I like Red, he's different. And he's obviously good with his hands and he seems to be very smart." she said. I groaned.

"Don't make me hurl." I begged her. She tutted at me and walked up to Red. Red seemed busy at work, but never seemed bothered by Candice's presence, even when it was obvious she was in the way.

When the sun finally set on this extremely tiring day, Red had already finished building the outer frame, the walls and part of the roof. I was tired just watching him.

"I think it's time we headed inside the house now, Red." said the master, who was watching the whole thing next to me. Red looked at him, then to the setting sun. He sighed and back flipped off the roof. He landed on his feet in a crouch. Candice had long since gone inside. I turned to leave for the house as well. When he was out of sight, I heard a grunting sound. I turned back to him. He was on one knee, clutching his chest with one hand and his head with the other.

I watched this with interest, thinking maybe this could benefit for me when sparing with him. I thought I heard a hissing sound somewhere off in the distance. I'd never heard a sound like it before. Quickly, I went to get Red to bring him in the house, but he stood up and began walking like nothing had happened. I stared at him as he passed me, astonished at how he could just shrug off that little episode like it were nothing.

The hissing sound had ceased, but that didn't mean we were safe outside. I wasn't too sure we were safe indoors either. Whatever made that sound must have been big enough to fair well against dragons and probably would be strong enough to kill the master. I began to worry for the master's safety. I rushed into the house quickly after Red and shut the door.

"What's wrong Heinous?" asked the master. I looked at him.

"I think we might be having some company." I replied. Instantly, the master dimmed the lights in the house and threw water on the fireplace.

"What did you hear?" asked Glaedr.

"A hiss." I replied, feeling dumb for saying it. Glaedr looked at me, smiling as he did so. I got ready for his gleeful torment.

"A hiss? Really? Maybe it was a snake." he said.

"No. This hiss was different. I've never heard anything like it before. I don't know what it is." I replied. Glaedr was about to torment me some more, but our master cut in.

"No, she's right. It's best to be safe than sorry, especially with me in the condition I'm in right now. She did the right thing." said the master. I peered out the window, looking for any sign of life at all. An owl turned its head toward the house and a few birds fluttered their wings and started squawking their good nights.

"I still think it must have been a snake." said Glaedr after a few minutes. I shushed him. The most frightening thing I'd ever experienced had just happened.

"What happened to the birds squawking?" I asked. The forest outside was dead silent. The master's breathing was calm even amongst all this.

"You're right, that isn't a good sign. Even I don't know of anything that could cause the birds to stop suddenly like that." he said. Against my better judgement, I shushed the master as well. Thankfully, he saw wisdom in my choice and stayed quiet. I looked as hard as I could for anything that would give away the presence of a being or creature. Not knowing where or what it was, began to frighten me. I looked to Red who was staring in one spot. I followed his Gaze, but saw nothing.

"What is it Red?" I asked. Just then, something that looked like eyes blinked within a far away bush. I stopped breathing. The others looked at me. Glaedr went to ask what was wrong, but thankfully, Red had the reflexes to cover Glaedr's mouth before that could happen. We both stared at the bush the eyes had blinked in, seeing out of the corners of our vision, the others staring at the bush too.

The sun went down and the light reflecting through the bushes died out, all except two round glowing eyes. Candice went to gasp, but I placed my tail against her mouth. Just then, I saw out of the corner of my eye, Red's hand leave Glaedr's. I turned around to see him gripping his chest once again and his head. He let out a light gasp, barely audible even from here.

A roar escaped whatever was in those bushes and it leaped out, running toward us. This creature was extremely scary and ugly at the same time. If I were a small dragoness, no older than five, I would have screamed in fear and horror, but I settled for paralysis. It had no paws or hands. It was as if they had been severed and replaced with swords. It's legs were metal pikes and swords stuck through its head. It was covered in decayed skin and greasy fur, bandages holding those swords and pikes in place. Its chest was open and everything that should have been there was gone. Nothing but bone was contained within that creature. It came at us, running as fast as its pike legs could take it.

"Look out!" shouted Glaedr. We got ready for battle. I went in my favourite stance, ready to fight and defend myself and the master. Without warning, Red practically flew through the window and attacked the creature head on. It went to stab him, but he was going too fast. He grabbed it's filthy dirty skinned neck and pinned it to a tree. The way in which Red moved, I almost believed he had wings the way he glided along the ground and carried it with him.

We all lowered out guard as we watched the goings on. The creature's eyes rolled upward, being suffocated by Red's grip. Just before it lost consciousness, Red released the creature, letting it breathe.

"What's he doing? Is he crazy?" asked Glaedr. I shook my head and shrugged. I continued to watch as Red flung his arms to the sides, hunched like he was ready to take a beating. With speed that I almost couldn't follow, he began flinging his hands at the creature. Every time, it would be pushed into the tree, dark blood spilling out of holes that weren't there before. I watched Red with horror and amazement. Wondering how he could possibly be doing this. It was dark and I couldn't see properly. Then he stuck his hand under the creature's neck. With his free hand he pointed two fingers at the creature, almost a foot away from its eyes. Suddenly, those eyes were gone. We all gasped in horror at what we'd seen.

"Did anybody see how he did that?" I asked. Everybody, even the master shook his head. The creature fell to the ground, dead. He turned to us and walked back inside casually. We all stared at him in shock. He turned and nodded, going into my room.

"I'm fairly alarmed here." I said, looking at the master. He seemed impressed. I didn't like the smile he was growing on his face.

"This boy could help turn the tide between our powers and Spyro and Cynder's." he said, smiling gleefully. I nodded, giving in to the inevitable future of me having to sleep in the same room as Red. I watched Glaedr and Candice go into their room, carefully watching out for Red. The master went and slept in his bed.

Sighing, I walked towards the doorway and saw him sitting on the ground against the wall just under the window. He had his knees against his chest, his arms resting lazily on top of them. He looked as if he was waiting for something to happen. I stepped inside and he looked up, his eyes glowing yellow. I thought it was from the reflection of the moon, but they were too bright. I stopped and stared at him, looking into those eyes. He lifted his head up, the glow disappearing. He stood up as if he were being inflated. It was kind of creepy seeing as how he was a tall muscular person.

He stood there, towering over me like an older dragon. He gave me a neutral look, his face expressionless. I slowly stepped around him and lay down in the bed. I left some room for him, but he didn't seem interested in the idea either. Still, I left some space for him and went to go to sleep. I couldn't get the feeling of being watched out of my mind. I opened my eyes to see that he was watching me.

"Don't you need sleep too? Why are you just staring at me?" I asked. He looked around the room, then back to me.

"You can sleep here next to me until we get you your own bed." I said, patting the space I left. He nodded and crouched down. He walked on all fours and positioned himself next to me. Then he tipped over to the side. With a thunk, he was mirroring my position on the bed. This interested me. Would he mimic me? He seemed too intelligent for that kind of thing. I rolled onto my belly and raised my neck watching and waiting. He just huffed and rolled over. I wondered if he could read my mind. But that would have been impossible. I sighed. I really wasn't liking this guy at all, but I wished I could get to know him more. I didn't like to judge people without solid evidence. The master said that his fighting could help us, so I couldn't make any judgements about that. I needed to know him properly.


	14. Chapter 13: Shopping for equipment

Chapter 13: Shopping for equipment

**Mar**

The next morning, I awoke to a warm breathing on the back of my neck. I rolled over and saw Heinous, the maroon one breathing on me. I groaned and got up, my bones cracking into place. The floor was the worst place to sleep. She was the only dragon I knew with a nest for a bed. I felt something wet on my back and went to touch it. When I brought my hand back into sight, it was stained in red. I removed my shirt and saw tear marks in the materials. I turned to her and I could see strips of flesh stuck to her talons. Blood held the flesh there which had dried overnight. I sighed, wishing I had my chair bed. I stretched again, feeling the marks open up. I groaned slightly, walking through the doorway. Malefor was still asleep on his nest of a bed. I assumed that the twins had a nest too. They were fairly young dragons and I began to wonder if they were Malefor's kids. If so, then who was their mother? It couldn't be Heinous, for she had a grudge against them. No the three of them were Malefor's servants, slaves, maybe even employees like me.

I went outside and began work on what they thought was the second house. It was actually a blacksmiths. I would need weapons in order to fight to the best of my abilities. My nails could only be so strong. They would break eventually, leaving me unarmed. But the house wasn't the problem. What was missing were the tools required to forge weapons, such as the stove and the anvil. I needed to find some way of either obtaining, or making those tools. Perhaps it was possible to buy these items somehow. I knew that the people used crystals as currency, but where to find some.

"Already up are we Red?" asked Malefor, stepping out of the house. I turned to him and nodded.

"What's with the claw marks?" he asked. I pointed toward Heinous and then placed both my hands on the side of my face.

"Scratched you in her sleep did she?" he asked. I nodded. I watched as Malefor walked up next to me and examined the scratch.

"She got you good. Those won't heal for a week. Looks like you're going to be of no use to me for the next week. Although your ability to create things is impressive. What are you in the middle of making now? It's some sort of house, but the chimney is thinner." he commented. I began doing hammering motions. He raised his brows in surprise.

"A Smithery? Well that's different, we haven't had the need for one of those before. Why don't you hold off on the construction of the building and take these. Buy an anvil and oven." he said, digging up a stash of crystals.

"Keep what you have remained and use it to your liking." he continued, pulling up five crystals. He dropped them in my hand and went back inside. I placed the crystals in my inner pocket. I crouched down and leaped into the air. I travelled to the closest town, receiving stares as I went by. I almost wished I'd brought my cloak and goggles. I went into the smithery and had a look at what he had made. The Blacksmith was a burly Cheetah.

"So what are you supposed to be? Never seen anything like you before." he said. I shrugged and looked at what I thought was the best looking stove of the bunch. I pointed to it and he said.

"That's a whole crystal. I've got a bargain that throws in an anvil for a quarter crystal more." he said. I nodded, pulling out two full crystals. He took them and threw back three quarters of a crystal.

"Here's your change. How are you going to carry it?" he asked. I thought for a second. I grabbed the stove and placed it by the door, then an anvil and stuck it next to that. I rested my hands on both and patted them.

"Alright, I'll leave them there while you make the arrangements." he said. I nodded my thanks and ran out. I saw a Woodworks just down the road from the Blacksmith's. I hurried into the shop and immediately got the attention of the keeper. She was a female Cheetah with white fur.

"Hello, welcome to Woody's Works. How may I help you?" she asked. Her voice indicated that she might have been about sixteen. I wished to god that I could speak because she couldn't understand anything I was trying to tell her. I grabbed her paw and led her out the back way where the wagons were.

"Hey, what in our Ancestors' name are you doing with her?" called another Cheetah. This one was Male, very strong by the looks of him.

"I don't know. He just grabbed me and went to take me out the back." she said, running up to the male. I slapped my head.

_Honestly, is this the Cheetah version of a dumb blonde?_ I thought.

_Hey, I remember that._ I added. The male strode forward and bulked himself up.

"What the hell were you doing with my woman?" he demanded. I looked at him. He was as tall as I was which was an impressive feat in itself. I stared him in the eyes and looked for the right motions to explain it. I went and grabbed a crystal and pointed it to the wagons.

"You just wanted to buy a wagon?" he asked. I nodded, leaning over to the female and sticking my arms out to the side.

"Well how am I supposed to know if you don't speak?" she asked. I looked around the room, my arms raised, motioning to the whole of the shop.

"Why else would he be here Mira?" the Male spoke for me. I nodded, thanking him in the process. Mira, stepped forward and led me out the back, followed by the male.

"Which one would you like, sir?" she asked. I had a look around. I didn't want an excessively huge wagon. I pointed to a fairly small one. It wasn't too small, nor was it too big. It was exactly the right size for me to cart what I needed back to the house. It was a fine quality wagon, it would certainly last me a while.

"That one's on special. Three quarters of a crystal." she said. I grabbed the crystal that the Blacksmith had given me and handed it to her.

"Thank you sir. Have a nice day. Would you like a free banner for rainy days?" she asked. I thought for a second and decided to go for it. It was free after all.

"Okay, just follow me and We'll let you pick which colour you want." she said, leading me back inside.

I chose on a grey one. It wasn't too colourful that anyone would want to steal it and it wasn't too colourless for my taste. I went back to the Blacksmith's and stocked the wagon up with the stove and anvil. He wished me a good day and I thanked him. I didn't head back to the house as I had planned. Instead, I went to Indy and Ammy's. Their mother was happy to see me as much as those two were. Ammy was getting good at explaining my actions. He interpreted that I was going to keep the stove and anvil here for the time being as a back up while I brought another lot back to where I was working. I didn't, however, mention who I was working for. Something told me that Malefor had a bad reputation in this world. Knowing I was working for him would shut down all the shops in the district as I passed by. That wouldn't be good for business. I realised I also needed Iron or steel. Something for me to meld and use. A friend of the family whose mane was Heat, was visiting as well as me and said that he had plenty of Iron for me to use. He was practically giving it all away. I asked him to hold on to some of it for me to do my work. He nodded, making it into a deal. If he were to hold the iron, I was to weld some things with it when he needed me to. The deal was fair enough. I agreed to it. Ammy and Indy tried to help me move the stove into position around the back of their home under a shelter. Indy kept dropping the stove on her own paws and Ammy would rush to her side, surprising me with the sudden chore of having to move it myself.

In the end. I lifted the whole thing myself and placed it where I decided was best. Then I brought the anvil over and placed it a few feet from the stove. It was like a working bench. Heat brought over some Iron and asked me to test it out. Fortunately, he was a fire dragon, so he lit up the stove for me. I'd have to ask Heinous or perhaps Malefor to do that for me back home. I kept a thick strip of metal in there until it was glowing bright orange. I took it out and began hammering it with the one Ammy handed to me. Within a few minutes, the iron was flat. I began shaping it , making a sharp edge. I dunked the metal into a barrel of water Indy was kind enough to get me. The water steamed up and out came the black metal.

"Cool. What is it?" asked Ammy. I released the metal and threw it at a tree. It stuck through easily, splitting the tree down the middle.

"Whoa!" said Heat. At the same time, both Ammy and Indy said in unison: "Cool.". I smiled. That would have made a great sword had it not been flawed by my uneven hammering. I went and wedged the metal from the tree and threw it away. I smiled at them all and headed back inside.

The inside of their home was fairly modern for this age. A medium sized round wooden table stood in the middle of the lounge with chairs of all kinds around it. I remember making the rocking chair for myself while I stayed there. The floor was simply wooden floor boards and the walls were made of concrete. A fireplace was stationed at the closest wall, with the rocking chair facing away from it. Indy offered me a drink as I sat down in the chair. I took it and thanked her with a light kiss on the cheek. She loved when I did that.

"Well how's your Smithing then Hero?" asked their mother whose name I found out when we met was Belinda. She was an ice dragoness like her children. I shook my head.

"He doesn't seem to think it's going well. But you split that tree right in the middle." said Ammy. I raised my hand, palm up.

"What do you mean that's the point?" demanded Ammy. Heat spoke up, answering for me.

"Because if it was a good make, it would have gone straight through without stopping. Splitting it was the marvellous thing, but the fact that the tree stopped it still makes it a bad egg if you will." he replied. I nodded in agreement. I finished off the drink Belinda had given me and placed it in their kitchen. She thanked me and offered me the guest bedroom for the night. I shook my head, explaining that I had to get back. Indy whined, wishing I didn't have to go. I knelt down and gave her a big hug. I made a sign that even she understood. That I'd come back soon. She smiled and hugged me again. I gave her another kiss on the cheek and she turned red, giggling. I chuckled silently as I wished the others a more formal goodbye. They waved at me as I closed the door behind me.

I grabbed my wagon, loaded it up with iron and steel and carted it back to the Blacksmith's. He was about to close, but I quickly bought another anvil and stove, giving him the two remaining crystals. He handed me another three quarter piece and closed up as I pulled the anvil out the door and onto the wagon. I sighed as I finally got the anvil up. The sun was setting and I had a while to go yet before I would make it back. I smiled, grabbing the wagon by the towing poles and pulled as hard as I could, running toward my new home.


	15. Chapter 14: Tiya's right

Chapter 14: Tiya's right

**Spyro**

"I'm sorry Spyro, but no such creature has come by today or yesterday. He probably won't come tomorrow either. But I'll be sure that you're the first to know." said Kane. I lowered my head.

"It looks like Tiya was right as usual. Hero hasn't come through here. So either he's been captured by whoever is taking these dragons or he's joined the napper. So it looks like we're at square one again guys." I said, turning to the others.

"I'm sorry I couldn't have been more help to you Spyro, but No one has seen this guy. We've heard rumours of a creature, but we never thought he'd be coming here. Looks like we were right." said Kane. I nodded at him.

"Don't worry Kane. It's not your fault. And you did help us, you helped us confirm the feeling Tiya had on the way here." I reassured him. Kane nodded.

"I swear, the things I've heard about that girl. The Atlawas believe her to be in the beginner stage of some psychic ability." he said. I smiled at him. I turned to Cynder.

"So what do you think we should do?" I asked.

"Why do you keep asking me?"

"Because you have experience in getting information to find people. We need that right now Cynder. What would you do?" I asked again. She lowered her head.

"I'd go back to the last village, see if anything's popped up there." she replied. I smiled at her and rubbed her head against mine.

"Then let's do that." I said. The group flapped their wings and flew back towards the last village. I turned to Kane.

"Thanks for seeing us Kane. We'll catch up some time." I said. Kane laughed.

"Just don't bring the talking bug." he chuckled. I laughed too, raising myself into the air. I waved goodbye to him as I joined the group.

"Right, so let's see if anything has happened since we left." I said, flying at full speed to the village where he was last seen. The others flew in my slipstream and managed to keep up with me as I flew at the speed of sound. The sun was setting and we were less than a half hour away now that we were in a hurry.

As we made it to the village just as the sun set. Everybody except for Cynder and me were tired.

"I guess we'd better find somewhere for them to sleep huh?" I said. Cynder nodded. We made our way into the nearest motel and asked if there were any rooms available. There was one left.

"That's fine. We're all just looking for a place to sleep, we don't care about the beds." I said. The dragon at the desk nodded.

"Okay, that'll be a crystal shard for the lot of you." he said. I reached into my backpack and pulled out a crystal sack full of shards. I picked one out of the bunch and handed it to him.

"Thank you sir. Please enjoy your stay. If you'll follow me, I'll show you to your room." he said. I placed the sack back in the backpack and led the group to follow him. He led us down a hallway. He opened the last door on the left and pushed it open, letting us all in first. Everyone went in and I grabbed another shard to give to him. He refused it politely.

"This one's on the house." he said, winking at me. I thanked him and closed the door behind me.

"Alright guys, find a place to sleep and nod off. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow." I said.

"This investigation is beginning to become harder than expected isn't it?" asked Flame. Tiya, blushed and replied.

"Yes it is, Flame." she said. I smiled as I saw plainly the crush she had on Flame. Cynder was sleeping at the foot of the bed. Frost at the head of it. They both grabbed a pillow. Cynder patted a spot next to me, moving over for me to get up. I smiled at her and rested my head on the other half of her pillow.

"Soft isn't it?" she asked. I nodded.

"Yeah. They really know how to fluff pillows these days." I commented. Frost moved aside as Die lay down next to him.

"I just want something to res my head on alright? This doesn't mean anything Frost." she said, that fiery aggression just still alight in her.

"Very well Diane. Rest well then." he replied. Diane nodded and closed her eyes, too tired to tell Frost not to call her Diane.

"Goodnight you two. Flame, Tiya." I said. Cynder said goodnight afterwards and they all eplied tiredly.

"Goodnight Spyro." she said, resting her head on her half of the pillow. I watched as she closed her eyes.

"Goodnight Cynder." I replied, doing the same on my side.


	16. Chapter 15: Truth revealed

Chapter 15: Truth revealed

**Mar**

I arrived home too late. I'd parked the wagon under the unfinished Smithery and gone inside the house. Everyone was already asleep. I walked into Heinous' room and lay down next to her, hoping she wouldn't scratch me again. She rolled over and her paw was wrapped around me like a child wrapped their arms around a toy they slept with at night. I sighed, too tired and bored to care. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

I woke in the middle of the night, feeling colder than usual. I turned around to see Heinous was missing from the bed. A fresh claw mark was placed on my back. I groaned, getting up and stretching. I felt the new skin split inside the scratches. Making my way to the front door, I noticed Malefor missing from his bed too. Out of curiosity, I opened the door to Glaedr and Candice's room, seeing they too were gone. I closed the door again and crossed my arms. Where had they gone? I stepped outside, closing the door behind me. The night was still young and nothing but the sound of the wind could be heard. I decided to begin early construction on the Smithery. As I got closer to the construct, I began hearing voices. I crept closer to the outside wall and snuck a peak through the window. There sat the others, Heinous, Glaedr, Candice and even Malefor. They were sitting in the middle of the Smithery in a circle, speaking with each other.

"Forgive me Master, but I just don't trust him. It's not possible for someone to take on all of us like that. He's fast and he even broke off one of Heinous' spikes." said Glaedr. Malefor nodded.

"It's true that he's fast, and I can vouch for his seemingly unlimited power. He may eventually be a threat to us, but I believe that if we all show him some sort of kindness, the likes of which I'm not used to giving, he will work with us. So long as we're kind to him, he'll return the favour. Now he's only here to be your training partners for the time being, but I'm willing to let him go out and do what you three have been doing for three years now. How many dragons have you all managed to kill?" he asked.

"I believe Candice and I have managed several since we joined." replied Glaedr with a smile on his face. Heinous didn't answer. I climbed silently onto the roof and looked through a gap.

"Heinous?" asked Malefor. Heinous snapped out of her daydreaming and began to pay attention.

"Master?" she replied. Malefor stood up and stretched, seeming extremely laid back. He spoke again.

"How many dragons have you killed?" he asked. They all waited for her reply.

"Thirty. Before Candice and Glaedr got here, it was twenty." she replied. A total of fifty dragons killed by her. That wasn't right. I felt I had to stop them from doing this, but I knew those three were loyal to their master beyond hope. I needed to gain their trust before I tried anything in front of them. I jumped off the roof and landed by the front door. I walked back into the main house and sat by the window. Lying on the ground seemed to be a bad thing for my skin, especially when Heinous was next to me. I felt the moon's rays on my back and Goosebumps appeared. I liked the feeling I got afterwards though. I felt as if a piece of home was reaching out to me. And that made me wonder if I was from the moon.

Heinous appeared after a few minutes and stared at me. I stared back, giving her a suspicious look. She seemed to feel as if she'd been busted for something. I broke our visual contact and walked over to the space where my bed would have been. Heinous walked guiltily to her bed, still leaving a space for me. I decided not to seem more suspicious than I already was so I lay down next to her again, risking more scratches. She stared at me as I went to lie on my stomach. I wrapped my arms around my shoulders and rested my head on whatever was beneath it.


	17. Chapter 16: Backup plan

Chapter 16: Back up plan

**Mar**

I woke up the next morning with Heinous' paw wrapped around me again. I lifted it and placed it just above my head. I slipped out of the bed and got up. Once again, there were wounds, some recently made. I bled on the ground again. I sighed, wishing I could do something about this. Heinous woke up. I turned around and ran for the exit, glad she'd left the door open. I hurried outside and ran into the Smithery. I wanted to do something about these marks. I even thought of welding the skin together with melted metal, but I decided against that. Finally, I tried willing them to close. I heard sizzling sounds coming from the wounds. I tried to look for the wounds, but all I saw were thin lines where they had been.

_Cool_. I thought to myself. I turned to go back inside the main house, but Heinous stood in the doorway.

"Are you alright Red?" she asked. I nodded, trying to get past her. She blocked me

"There's blood on the ground in our room. Is that yours?" she asked. I nodded, not denying it. She nodded in return.

"Okay, I understand what's going on now." she said.

"What's going on? asked Glaedr from behind her. We both looked to him and saw Candice and Malefor with them.

"I found blood on the ground in my room. Red's just admitted it was his. So I just found out why he was bleeding in the first place." she replied. Everybody waited for an answer, even me. How did she know I had been cut?

"I think Red's a girl." she replied. Everybody looked to me. I just stared at Heinous, my eye twitching. I really wanted to hit her. I stood there thinking: _You bitch!_

The others laughed at the insinuation.

"That's impossible Heinous. Red's shoulders are too broad for him to be a girl. Besides, aside from you, girls don't act like men, not even Candice." replied Glaedr. I nodded, thanking him.

"You stupid bitch, you know nothing about girls even though you are one. Or did you forget that too?" he asked. Heinous growled at him. Then she turned and apologised to me.

"I'm sorry Red. I thought you were having female problems." she said. I didn't know how to take that apology. I furrowed at her, indicating this.

"Well you know, the way you've got your hands on your hips it does make me think I was right after all." she said giggling. I continued to look at her, even though the others began to laugh. I decided to stop this by leaning forward so I was at her level, then quietly, I growled, just so she could hear it. She gasped, freezing in place. I stood straight and went out to work on the Smithery.

I fired up the new oven and grabbed some metal from the cart. I began to create a special chair, but I needed some metal to place on it in certain areas. I didn't know what it was for, but I just knew I had to make it. The thought was in my head and what steps were required. I worked the full day on it, watching as Heinous and the others went out and came back from their slaughter, believing I was completely oblivious to their occupation. I began on the wood part of the design I was creating. It was a fairly large chair, just big enough for me to sit in. I finished the design and began placing the metal on the arm rests as well as where the legs went. A large metal back with some sort of helmet hanging from it. I'd created wires using copper and bronze. It was all attached and large rings that rotated were on the arm rests, each one containing a dozen vials of my blood. A large rod with smaller branches on it like a tree stuck out from the top. It was extendable. By the time I was finished, it looked like an executioner's chair.

I cleaned up and left the Smithery, entering the house. They all greeted me, except for Glaedr who still didn't seem to like me. I sat down in the middle and waited for them to ask their questions. First was what the chair out there was for. I shrugged, still not knowing. The next one was how I'd managed to terrify Heinous into silence all day. Finally, Malefor asked the question.

"Will you remain loyal to us?" I looked at him, wondering if there was some sort of trick in the question. Slowly, I nodded, waiting for him to spring me. He smiled and nodded.

"Very well. That's good news because we've all decided to give you an assignment. We'd like you to take this dragon Glaedr captured to a pack of Northern wolves in order to gain their trust and co-operation. We promised them fifty dead dragons and another fifty live ones. We've given them over fifty dead ones and will start with this one." he said. Glaedr dragged a young black dragon, no older than he was out from the cupboard, tied up and muzzled. I looked at them all, wondering if they'd offer me an alternative. It didn't seem like they would.

I grabbed the dragon and untied him. I pulled the muzzle off and opened the door for him.

"Thank you. Thank you so much!" he said, flying away as fast as he could. The others stared at me, not very happy. I motioned for them to follow me. They did so. I knew they planned on yelling at me, which I would let them do, but I would also work on something new with the spare metal I had. I grabbed it all and began to create a modified version of the sword from yesterday. I made it a foot longer, with a weighty guard and a steel hilt. The blade was black steel. and two holes were on the blunt side of the blade, just above the guard. I melded it with my sword, feeling that somehow, the blade would be stronger for it. I wrapped the hilt in a red bandage for better grip. Then I turned to the others. They finally began their questioning.

"Why the hell did you let that dragon go?" they all asked at the same time. Malefor went on to ask:

"How will we deal with the Wolves now we can't offer them a living dragon?" I smiled at them and pointed my thumb to myself, indicating to leave them to me. Then I walked out the door.


	18. Chapter 17: Wolf hunt

Chapter 17: Wolf hunt

**Mar**

I walked through the forest, watching the moons fly overhead. As they began to finish their cycle, I felt the presence of eyes on me. Wolves began to stalk me, keeping their distance. I smiled and chose to bait them in. I stopped and pretended to fall asleep on the spot. My eyes were closed, but I could still hear them coming. Four wolves, fairly large began to circle me. They closed in, panting. I could even smell one's breath. I grabbed that one's neck, snapping it on the spot. The other three jumped back, getting ready to take the offensive. I threw the one I had at another and drew my new sword. He lunged at me, meeting my blade half way. His head came off cleanly. The remaining two circled keeping their distance from me and my sword. I lunged for one, my sword flying behind me. As the wolves jumped at me, thinking I couldn't defend in time, I stepped to the side, turning my blade to meet them. No sounds were made by the wolves as bodies were sliced in half. I sheathed my blade and dragged the wolves together. I began skinning them with the intent to make a wolf skin cloak out of them.

Once it was made, I donned it, hiding the majority of my blade beneath it. I continued to walk toward the wolf pack's nest. I knew I was getting closer as I heard howling from all around me. When I arrived, wolves had practically infested a canyon. Perhaps it was a crater. Either way, I was noticed in their pack's skin. A larger one than the others appeared before me. I hadn't even heard it sneaking up. He growled at me, his teeth bared and yellow with bits of black where they had decayed over the years.

"What do you want here, murderer?" he asked with a disgusted tone to his voice. Despite his surprise approach, I didn't change my expression. I was calm as before, even with wolves surrounding me. I grabbed a stick and wrote my demand on the ground for him to understand. Though he understood, he didn't take it very well.

"The deal was to bring fifty dead dragons and fifty living. If he can't respect the deal, then he cannot lead us." said the wolf. I extended my claws to his neck, forcing him to make eye contact. I shifted my eyes to the rest of the pack below for a few seconds, then back to him. He understood the message I was trying to portray.

"Very well, for the safety of my pack, I'll follow you." he said. I smiled, retracting my claws.

"When do you want us to meet?" he asked. I wrote the words 'we'll let you know' in the ground and as he read it, I jumped into the air and made my way back home.

Upon arrival, I was greeted by disapproving faces.

"And are the wolves happy with the arrangement? They'll never follow us unless we threaten them now." said Glaedr, storming up to me. I removed my cloak of wolf skin and tossed it to him. He fidgeted to get it off, then looked at it. I stuck my blade through the cloak and walked inside passing Heinous on the way in. She didn't seem too happy about something, maybe it was me.


	19. Chapter 18: Destroyed

Chapter 18: Destroyed

**Heinous**

Every time I saw Red, I began to wonder what in the world he was. He impaled a strange creature just a couple of nights ago, and just last night, he rescinded the deal we'd made with the Northern wolves while forcing fear on them to still join us. I didn't want to show it, but he was beginning to scare me to the point of insanity. All he did was work in that Smithery, creating a strange chair. He even imbued it with the magical properties of the crystals. When we would ask him what it was, he would shrug and continue working as if we'd never asked him.

"Red, will you please train me today?" asked Candice. I turned to her, giving her an angry look.

"You never ask me to train you. You always ask Red. Who don't you ask me every once in a while. We can do some bonding. Isn't that what girls like us do?" I asked. Candice shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm not in with the commonalities of ordinary teenage girls. Besides, Red's much more interesting to train with. The master told us to study and analyse his technique, but it changes every time. I swear last time, he moved like a dragon." she replied. My eyes widened, then looked over at Red who had stopped to look at us.

"Why don't you train both of us Red? I want to see how you've changed your fighting style." I suggested. He dropped his tool and nodded, wiping his hands with a cloth. He walked outside and we followed him. We stopped between the Smithery and the house when he turned to us. He brought his forearms up just above his elbows and stood there, his feet spread apart. He hadn't fought like this before. Even Candice seemed confused.

"You'd think he'd run out of fighting styles by now." she said, dashing towards him. I followed behind, taking in Red's reaction. He didn't move an inch. His eyes simply stayed on Candice as she approached. She jumped up at him, going for the chest. He stepped aside and brought his left arm around, winding her upon descent. She stayed down on the ground, gripping her stomach. I'd jumped into the air, trying to take him by surprise. I'd seen this fighting style before fighting a small clan of cheetahs. I knew his next move.

As I went to land on him, he went to jump back. I saw him prepare his hand for a swift chop to my neck. I rolled over and bit his arm. Unfortunately, I forgot to let his arm go and I ended up ripping it off. I heard the horrible sound of tearing flesh and refused to look over at him. But I saw the horrified look on Candice's face. That was enough to make me feel sick. I spat out Red's arm and turned to look at him. I felt the urge to throw up as I saw him on his knees, gripping his shoulder. His hand seemed to glow bright as the blood mixed with the red on his hand. Candice let out a scream, causing our master to appear and see what had happened. Glaedr stood next to him, staring at the arm on the ground near me.

"What in the world..." he muttered before taking in the scene. He ran to Candice's side, helping her up. She turned away and cried on his shoulder while I just sat there, staring at Red. He didn't even seem in pain. He just sat on his knees holding his shoulder. If anything, he looked curious.

"I see you've relieved Red of his arm Heinous. Did you get sick of the hammering?" asked the Master. I shook my head, unable to speak.

"I...I'm sorry Master... I didn't let go in time and I ripped his arm off." I replied, beginning to wheeze. I could feel tears coming on. I turned back to Red to apologize when I saw he was standing in front of me. I flinched, waiting for him to hit me with his remaining arm. But he just shoved me out of the way and picked his arm up, placing it against what remained. Dark tendrils surrounded the wound and I could have sworn I saw his sclera turn darker. The Master, Glaedr and Candice all stared at him as the tendrils dissipated and his arm was good as new. I blinked a few times, unable to believe what I'd just seen. Red turned back to me and went into his fighting stance.

"I guess, he isn't finished with you." said the Master as he backed away. I took a few steps backwards, beginning to fear Red's abilities. He didn't take his eyes off of me. I blinked again and the next thing I knew, he was in front of me. I ducked my head, missing a side sweep by a mere inch. I jumped up and took to the air, planning to fire from a range as well as steer clear of him. Then he growled loud enough for me to hear. It was like a Cougar growling at the same time as a Tiger. I felt as if I needed to fly higher. So I followed my instincts. I flew as high as I could. Seeing nothing but the trees beneath me. I heard the growl again, but it came from above.

"No way!" I exclaimed, fearfully looking upward. There he was, his hands clasped together ready to send me shooting down to the ground. I was frozen in place, unable to move as I saw his eyes glow brighter than the sun behind him, his sclera completely blackened. He hit me on the head. I was sent hurdling to the ground. I saw him descend faster than me and land just as neatly as he would have had he jumped no higher than a few centimetres. He waited for me, stepping aside as I hit the ground. I couldn't move for a minute. I was afraid that my body had been broken, but Red was just holding me down. His eyes weren't as I saw them in the air, but they were still scary. I relaxed, thinking the session over.

"Okay, you've taught me a lesson." I said, trying to get him off. He stood up and let me up I then shot up into the sky and prepared to dive for him. He saw this coming and smiled at me, waiting to see what twist I would add to it. I decided to play novice, just going for the straight head-on attack. He would assume that I'd either go in another direction at the last second, or add a move as I closed in. I dove down, watching him. Then something happened, he seemed scared. H froze where he was and gripped his chest and head again.

"OH NO!" I squealed as I lost control and tried to exit out of my dive.

I crasher right into him, a cloud of dirt and dust surrounding the two of us.


	20. Chapter 19: Assault

Chapter 19: Assault

**Malefor**

The dust covered them both as Glaedr, Candice and I watched Heinous crash into Red. I coughed and sputtered as I felt my lungs fill with the dirt. Glaedr and Candice shielded their eyes, looking back as the dust cleared around them. I waited for the dust to clear around Red and Heinous, seeing the awkward position they had themselves in.

Heinous lay on top of Red, her claws digging into his sides and her mouth against his in what could only be described as a kiss. Red had his fingers digging into Heinous' sides for once, drawing blood. Heinous looked stunned at the position they were in. She looked at him and knew how she looked, but she made no effort to get out of it. Red also seemed reluctant to stop what they were doing.

"Whoa, they landed like that? How embarrassing." said Glaedr, walking forward. I watched him trot up with amusement in his eyes.

"Hey Heinous, when I said you needed a male in your life, I didn't mean one of a different species!" he shouted down to her. Heinous then struggled to get off of him with some difficulty. I noticed that during that struggle, she never broke contact with Red's face until she had to reach us.

"Apology's Master. I wasn't aware that he would have an episode at that moment." she said. I nodded, looking down to Red who lay there with his arms out to the side, staring up.

"And what was with the kiss?" I asked. Heinous blushed, shaking her head.

"Nothing but an accident sir, it won't happen again." she replied. I nodded, not that bothered with her little mistake. Glaedr and Candice gave her teasing glances all the way into the house. I turned back to Red and saw him cough up blood. The blood seemed thicker than usual and landed on his face. Then something caught my notice. The blood made its way over to the left side of his face. It almost looked like he wore a mask. But the blood quickly dissipated into nothing and Red got up as if nothing had happened. _I'll have to look out for that in the future. That could become troublesome, especially seeing as how we've only witnessed but a taste of his true potential._ He thought to himself as he went inside.

**Mar**

I walked into the house after Malefor, feeling sore after having Heinous' claws dig into me. They all sat down, teasing Heinous about the end result.

"So, what was he like? Was it a crashing experience?" asked Glaedr. Heinous just sat there and blushed the whole time. She must have felt there was nothing she could say in her defence.

"Was he any good?" asked Candice. Heinous didn't answer. They never let up, enjoying themselves too much. Malefor just went to sleep near the fire. I walked up as Glaedr was about to drop another insulting remark on her. I listened to what he had to say.

"So... would you crash into him again on purpose just for another kiss?" he asked. I scoffed at him. This caused them all to turn and look at me. I raised four fingers.

"Oh, Charades! Okay, four words, first word... Heinous?" asked Candice. I nodded, raising two finger's.

"Second word, no, can't don't doesn't?" she asked. I nodded again, raising the third finger.

"Want... Take... Have?" she asked. I nodded once more and raised the fourth finger. Then I raised just two fingers.

"Two? To?" she asked. I nodded, clapping to her.

"Okay, so add Glaedr's comment about Heinous trying to crash into him on purpose just for another kiss and add those four words as Red's reply and that means he's saying... Heinous doesn't have to." she said. I nodded, giving Heinous a kiss on the cheek before turning in. They all just stared at me, and then to Heinous as I smiled at them and closed the door behind me. I turned around and looked out the window. The moon shone brightly above, illuminating me as the light touched my skin. I took in the air and marvelled in its purity. Then I heard snarling sounds coming from beyond. The wolves were circling, preparing for an attack. I saw one of them heading towards the window, unaware of my presence. It planned to attack Heinous in her sleep. I climbed to the roof of the room, watching as the Wolf crept into the room. I released my grip on the roof and jumped the Wolf, wrestling with it into submission. It put up a fight, wriggling around on the ground. I found it difficult to keep quiet for long and drew my claws. I stabbed the Wolf in the head, killing it instantly. Then again in the heart to make sure it was dead. I released it and saw the blood pooling out from under it. I sighed and lifted it, throwing it back into the bushes with the other wolves. Some of its comrades yelped in surprise. Just then, I heard Heinous open the door. I quickly tore at my side and let the blood spill. Then I retracted my claws and gripped the open wound. Heinous was being very quiet until she saw the blood and me standing before her, holding the supposed source of the blood. She stared at me, closing the door behind her.

"Red, what happened to you?" she asked, then she noticed other scars near where the wound was.

"Did... did I do that?" she asked. I hesitated, nodding. She stared at the wound, then looked up to meet my eyes. I willed it to heal, hearing that sizzling noise. Heinous looked on in surprise as the wound sealed itself up, leaving nothing but scars.

"So that was the source of the blood on the ground that morning. I'm so sorry Red. I didn't know I was hurting you." she said. I shrugged, looking out the window. Heinous followed my gaze and walked towards it.

"I sometimes like to look out and see the moon as well. The light it emenates is beautiful and mysterious. Kind of like you are, the mysterious part I mean. Not that you're not beautiful... I think." she tried to say. I grabbed her snout and shook it lightly while smiling. This was an indication for her to shut up before she hurt herself. She chuckled as I released her and looked up at the moon.

"Do you think it's beautiful?" she asked. I nodded, feeling happy to be doing this with her. It felt good.

"Yes. The moon often is beautiful when it's full." I said. Heinous gasped, looking at me.

"You spoke!" she exclaimed. I smiled, looking at her expression.

"I suppose I did. I guess that means I've remembered how to talk. I still don't remember who, or what I am, but I believe that it'll make things easier for me now. I won't have to play charades all the time." I replied.

"So you can tell me what that peck on the cheek was all about?" she asked. I chucked, seeing her reaction to the sound.

"That was just me trying to back you up and put Glaedr in his place. And for the record, even when you're crashing into me, you're a good kisser." I said, smiling as I jumped out of the window.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I've got a little something I need to deal with, but I'll be back soon." I replied, running off.

**Heinous**

I watched as he ran off, moving through the bushes as if he were a phantom. I smiled after him.

"He said I was a good kisser! Yes! I've been wanting to know that for ages." I said aloud.

Just then, I heard a noise from outside the window.

"Red?" I called, thinking it was him.

"Close, but no cookie!" growled a Wolf, jumping through the window, startling me. I screamed and blew fire at the Wolf, sending him back through the window with flaming fur. Three more came in after him, surrounding me. I fended them all off with my spikes, going back into the lounge. The Alpha stood before the Master with ten wolves surrounding him.

"You think you can send a messenger to kill our wolves and force our loyalty? You foolish dragon! You will pay dearly for this. With your life!" he roared. I went to stop him, but Master was chuckling.

"I didn't send him to threaten you. I sent him to deliver the dragon to you, but he released him on his own and dealt with you lot independently. We had nothing to do with your pack being threatened. Besides, you don't stand a chance against us. If you did, you wouldn't have asked us to collect those dragons for you." he said, casually.

"That was a test of your willpower. We needed to know how much you wanted us to join you." he growled, taking a step forward.

"Alpha!" cried a wolf who was missing an ear. Blood was trickling down his face where his ear used to be.

"Ripjaw! Why are you here? You're supposed to be with the weaker members of the pack!" growled the Alpha.

"Sir, I just came from there. That messenger, he's slaughtering the home pack!" replied Ripjaw.

"What?" demanded the Alpha, turning to his subordinate.

"I just managed to escape. I came to tell you sir. I thought I should warm you before you returned." he said, bowing down. The Alpha growled.

"Wolves! Attack!" he roared. The next thing we all heard was the sound of his wolves being hurt outside. The Alpha turned to the front door. A Wolf came through, falling to his feet. Then he was slowly dragged back by the silhouette of what could have only been Red. The Wolf was scared beyond imagination. The darkness covered the image of the wolf and all was left for sound to decipher as the wolf made one final yelp before being silenced Other wolves were scrambling around outside. A clawed hand came out of the shadowy entrance and slowly closed the door. All of us saw white pointed teeth and glowing yellow eyes. I could tell that Red was smiling. Then he made a shushing sound, long and slow as the door closed.

"Shhhhhhhhhhh!" he let out, finishing with the closing of the door. The Alpha, Master, Glaedr, Candice and I, along with ten other wolves were left to wonder what was happening.

"My... my pack! All gone... Wiped out by one being... How is that possible?" he croaked. Silence answered him as the door slowly opened, revealing that creepy smile. The head of a Wolf was thrown into the light, fear and pain clear in his eyes. The Alpha was frozen in place. Unsure of what his fate would be now.

"I gave you a warning and you've chosen... to ignore it. As such, I have ensured that you are useless to Malefor. Now your fate rests with him." said Red, stepping through. The darkness seemed to disappear and the moonlight showed the devastation that he left behind him. He walked up next to Malefor and knelt down.

"How... frightening, Red. But I believe I will let them live, for now. Perhaps the Alpha will grow a new pack and then think about joining us?" he asked, turning to the Alpha. He nodded slowly, looking at Red.

"Good. Then leave with what's left of your pack and expand it as much as you can." he ordered. The Alpha nodded and ran out with his followers behind him.

"Actually, Ripjaw was wrong. I only killed a couple of his wolves until he ran to tell his Alpha." said Red, getting up and heading back into the room. I followed after him, closing the door behind me.

"Red. What you just did was... terrifying. You've frightened me beyond imagination." she said. I chuckled, finding a good reply to that comment.

"Good thing I'm on your side then isn't it?" I replied, sitting on the windowsill, the moon glowing behind me, hiding my face. My eyes glowed in my silhouette, staring right at her.

"Red, I don't like this. Not even the Master was able to do that in his glory days. I fear he'll try and finish you when he can and... I don't want you to die." she said.

"Are you saying something else as well as that?" I asked her.

"What makes you think that?"

"The pause. You paused in the middle of your sentence and corrected yourself. You were going to say something else." I said, smiling. My teeth gleamed as well.

"What are you?" she asked.

"I don't know. But I do know that I'm incomplete. I feel like a young one in the middle of his training. Perhaps that's why I'm here in the first place. I could be training. But what am I training? Survival, war, strategy... Relationship skills, perhaps?" I pondered.

"I feel that there is something you're not telling me. Something you're hiding?" I smiled again, getting up off the windowsill. I walked up to her. She backed away against the wall. I bashed my arm against the wall, missing her head by a few inches.

"That's a possibility. But then again, that could be the thing preventing me from being killed by our lord and master. I know Malefor seems to be a weak and planning master, but I know that he's also hiding his potential. He knows I'm strong, he knows my potential isn't nearly as powerful as you've all seen so far." I said, my form changing to dark skin and black eyes. My claws began to extend. Heinous' face grew scared of me. My teeth grew sharper and longer, my cheeks disappearing to reveal rows of teeth.

"However he underestimated my desire to live and discover who I am. He misunderstands my intelligence. Right now, he considers the Alpha's attack to be a flaw in what he thinks was my plan to impress him. But I'll let you in on a secret Heinous." I said, leaning into her face so only she could hear.

"It's all part of the plan." I added, reverting to my regular form.

"I don't understand why you're doing what you're doing? What is your plan here? Why would you have a plan in the first place if you didn't know something about yourself?" she asked.

"You're quite thick when you're scared aren't you? I have a plan to turn on our master should he have the desire to turn on me. And do you know why you're being told this?" I asked. She shook her head. I leaned closer to her, breathing on her neck.

"Because I trust you." I replied, smiling. Heinous released the breath she was holding as I leaned away from her.

"So I ask, can I trust you? I know he saved your life once, but at what cost?" I asked, walking to the window again and turning back to her.

"The price was his servitude. And I am comfortable with the way things are. More or less. You, I'm not sure about." she replied, walking up to me. She was beginning to discover that her master was being threatened.

"And I will stop you from hurting my master, no matter the cost." she added, her face against mine.

"What if I offered you a better deal? Traders do it all the time. Join me, and in return after your master is defeated, you will be free from absolutely everything and everyone. You won't have to kill, you won't have to fight, you can just live carefree." I offered.

"I hate the world, that's why the price is pretty much free to me, become his servant and kill those who turned me down. I like my deal, and I don't plan on changing sides just like that. So I ask that you forget betraying our master and serve him until the end." she said.

"Poor Heinous, so scared of me you don't realise this is a dream." I replied.

**Heinous**

I looked at him, wondering what he meant, all of a sudden, my eyes grew heavy and I found myself waking up. Red was beside me again, his sides having been dug into. I remembered the entire dream, but it was slowly slipping away.

"I got up, unsure of whether or not last night happened. I exited the room, leaving Red to sleep on.

"Awake already Heinous? That's not like you." said my master.

"Were we attacked by the wolves last night?" I asked him.

"We were."

"What happened afterwards?"

"You went into your room and went to sleep after taking a few steps forward. Red pulled you onto your bed and closed the door afterwards. The twins had a little laugh concerning you two and that kiss from earlier." he replied. I instantly grew angry at those two, wanting to burst in on them and burn them to crisps.

"And Red can talk now, right?"

"He can. Why, were you dreaming about something?" he replied.

"I just don't remember falling asleep is all." My master chuckled at this, his voice distorting slightly. He looked stronger.

"Red is a curious creature. He's not a dragon, nor is he a cheetah. And he certainly isn't a wolf. Perhaps he's not even of this world." he said.

"Didn't we discuss this to an extent already Master?" I asked.

"Yes, we did. However, I feel I should ponder him further. I feel that he's fighting me somehow. Like he's a step ahead of me or something. It would take someone who isn't afraid of me to do that. And I know that Red has no fear towards me whatsoever." he said.

"Master?" I asked, unsure as to where he was going with this.

"Don't worry about Red Heinous. I knew from the beginning that I wouldn't be able to control him. He's touched darkness before and he isn't afraid to do so again. I have the feeling as though he's locked something away subconsciously. I won't pretend to understand him. He's an enigma to us all and I believe he'll remain that way." he continued.

"Master, I don't understand. You're not making sense." I said, trying to get him to explain.

"I'm feeling a little tired heinous. My words are coming out as nothing but gibberish related to the topic. Ignore me for now and I'll speak with you later. I have an assignment for you and the twins. I need you all to gather certain dragons and bring them to me. Alive would be preferable." he ordered.

"As you wish, my master. And what of Red?" I asked.

"I wish to have a conversation with him. I'm curious as to his knowledge and manner when speaking with others." he replied.

"Master, I believe him to be rather sly." I warned.

"Then we'll have that in common Heinous. Go now, wake the twins and tell them of their assignment." he ordered.

"Yes Master."


	21. Chapter 20: Lead

Chapter 20: Lead

**Spyro**

Finally, after a week of investigating, we came across a lead. A small town on the outskirts of where we'd been searching had given us a description of the person we were searching for, buying things two days previous. We all headed out for that town the next day. He'd ended up buying two smithing ovens, two anvils and a cart to carry it all on. One oven was left at Indy's home, along with an anvil. The rest of it was lost with him.

"This is getting to be a large pain. Whoever this guy is, he's good at evading us." said Flame, spitting fire at a nearby frogweed. Tiya walked up next to him and smiled shyly.

"Don't give up hope Flame. We'll find Hero soon enough." she said. Flame smiled at her, seemingly reassured by her words. Cynder lay down, tired. It was nearing Midnight now and we couldn't get any rooms to stay in. I lay down next to her and rested my head on hers. She cooed softly as she let sleep take her. The others did the same. Tiya started shaking, so Flame, being a nice guy placed a wing over her to warm her up. She blushed, smiling at him.

Then Die began to shiver as she watched them. Frost spoke up.

"Don't expect me to place a wing over you Diane. I might freeze you to death." he said. Diane chuckled.

"I'm not cold, I'm just excited about being one step closer to finally finding this guy." she replied.

"That's what you always say when you shiver. I know you're cold and I would warm you if I could, but trust me when I say you'd be better off without my wing over you. Go lay next to Flame, he's got a spare wing for you." he said, pointing his own toward Flame. Die sighed, getting up and lying next to him. Flame chuckled and placed his other wing over her.

"You'll be warm in a second Die, don't worry." he said. Die scoffed, most likely offended by the word 'worry'. She closed her eyes and went to sleep.

"I wish we could find this guy soon." I said. Frost nodded, resting his head and soon afterward, his eyes. I myself was about to nod off when a wolf appeared from behind a tree.

"You wouldn't happen to be looking for the strange creature who has no fur would you?" he asked. Everybody woke up, eyeing the wolf.

"What do you want, fleabag?" demanded Die. The wolf glared at her.

"I want to tell you where your guy is." he replied, turning to me. I stood up, Cynder doing likewise.

"How can we trust you? What if you're working with him?" she asked. The wolf shuddered.

"We don't even wish to know him. He's killed four of our kind in less than a minute, using their skin as a cloak. He had the gall to approach us and threaten us into working for that damned dragon, Malefor." he replied. We all gasped, Cynder and I more than the others.

"That's not possible! Malefor's dead." I said, hoping the wolf was lying. He shook his head.

"I wish you were right, purple dragon, but our alpha has deemed it not so. He says he was met by Malefor and struck a bargain. Fifty dead dragons and fifty alive. That explains your missing persons case, but we need your help. He stopped the deal half way and sent his new toy over to threaten us into submission. We followed his scent. He's living in the middle of a forest with Malefor and three others." he argued. Cynder and I looked at each other.

"Malefor isn't known for his teamwork. Are you sure they're not hostages?" I asked. The wolf nodded.

"If they were, they wouldn't be walking around freely." he replied. Everybody looked to me and Cynder.

"Okay. We'll head out tomorrow. But my friends and I have to rest." I said, making the decision. He nodded.

"I will show you the way tomorrow morning." he replied. He lay down next to Frost who didn't seem that bothered by his presence. Flame once again placed his wings over the girls to keep them warm. I rested my head on Cynder's and placed my own wing over her to keep her warm too. We all went to sleep that night and awoke bright and early the next morning. The wolf began to take us toward where Hero was said to be.


	22. Chapter 21: Recon

Chapter 21: Recon

**Cynder**

The wolf led us through the deep forest areas, near where Wolves were said to have been hunting. I had the feeling that this wolf was planning something for us.

"Spyro, I don't like this. It's too convenient that we suddenly find someone who knows where our target is and has information referring to Malefor." I said.

"I know what you mean Cynder, but there's the slightest chance that this wolf is telling the truth. And if Malefor is alive, we need to find him and defeat him again so the world is safe once more." he replied, turning to look at me.

"But what if this Hero guy turns out to be worse than Malefor? I mean, the wolf said he was working with him. That's got to mean something. And Malefor wouldn't work with just anyone." I argued.

"Cynder?" called Die. I looked to her, she had a worried expression on her face, much as she tried to hide it.

"We're getting close." said the Wolf, ducking down. He froze in place.

"What is it?" asked Flame from up the back. The wolf looked shocked. Spyro and I took a peek towards where he was staring. There a black dragon and the one we could assume was Hero were carting the bodies and pieces of wolves into a caravan.

"My pack... Killed, just like that. The most elite wolf Pack this side of the country and they've been slaughtered like dogs." he said, a whimper escaping his lips.

"I'm so sorry about your pack. And here I thought you were leading us into a trap." I said. The wolf looked to us, a tear in his eyes. He whimpered again.

"I must head back to my pack's territory and check for survivors. Will you join me? This is essentially why I brought you in the first place. In the unlikely event that our Alpha were to be defeated in some way, he wanted me to ask for the help of the Purple dragon and the redeemed Terror of the skies. I assume that is you?" he asked, looking to me. I nodded.

"Just call me Cynder. And we'll go with you." I replied.

"Thank you. My name is Reaver." he said.

"This is Spyro, Flame, Tiya, Frost and Die." I added, pointing to the other dragons. He nodded to each of us.

"It is good to put names to your faces. I was going to make what we wolves consider a humorous gesture towards our different food groups your names. I was going to call the Purple one Desert, the red one Dinner and so on. But now the mere thought of doing so is lost to me after this." he said pointing to the growing pile of wolves.

"And what would you call me? The lantern on the table?" asked Sparx, flying up to us.

"Sparx? What are you doing here? I thought you stayed behind in Warfang." said Spyro.

"I would have gone with you had you lot bothered to inform me. You guys are so mean. You're lucky I have a girlfriend now, otherwise I'd smack the lot of you." he said.

"When did you get a girlfriend?" asked Spyro.

"Oh poor heavy overweight brother of mine. Your overly large body is balanced by your tiny memory span." he said.

"I'll remember that." he retorted.

"Hah, but you didn't deny that you were heavy of small minded." he teased.

"Sparx, now is not the time. Malefor's somewhere over there." I said.

"He's WHAT?" he screamed. Reaver grabbed Sparx and held his mouth closed. Hero came out, hearing Sparx. He walked towards us and stopped a few feet from the bush we were hiding behind. His eyes rested on us. I knew he could see us.

"What is it Red, is someone out there? Have Heinous and the twins come back with their catch?" asked an all too familiar voice. The black dragon popped his head around the corner and looked at Red.

"That's Malefor?" asked Die, not realising that Hero, or as Malefor called him Red was looking at us.

"Nothing Master. Just some mindless squirrels playing about." he replied, turning around.

"Sounds like Dinner to me." he said.

"Doubtful Master, they're scrawny at best. I could fetch some sheep or something for dinner if you wish." he offered, walking back to the house.

"No, we have that too often. How about Wolf meat? What does that taste like?" he asked.

"You assume I know?"

"I assume a lot with you my friend. You continue to surprise us all with your talents. These wolves are such a demonstration. I'm almost inclined to free Heinous and the twins from their servitude to me were it not so apparent that you and Heinous were getting a bit too close. I would have you kill them all were you not close to her." he said.

"Then they owe me their lives." he said. All of us looked at each other, unsure what to make of this.

"I thought the kids said Hero couldn't talk. That he'd forgotten how to." said Die.

"He must have remembered how. What I want to know is why he let us live. If he's Malefor's servant, why didn't Hero tell him of our location?" replied Frost.

"He knew we were here?" asked Die, surprised.

"He did. And he let us go. Perhaps he's not truly allied with Malefor after all." said Frost.

"I think we'd best discuss this at a safer location, we're too close to Malefor's new hideout to discuss a plan safely." said Spyro, motioning for Reaver to lead the way. Reaver let go of Sparx and did so, walking northward towards his Pack.


End file.
